Rising From The Sand
by SurviveEternity
Summary: A NextGen story in Suna. KankIno mainly. Sabaku no Hikari and Sabaku no Bunraku go from newly-made Genins to Chuunins. C2 Owners, PM me before adding.
1. Prologue

**This follows a rather AU timeline...Yamanaka Ino got transfered at 15...Sarutobi Asuma **_**IS NOT DEAD**_**...Uchiha Sasuke returns. But, eh, this if fanfiction, and to be exact, MY fanfiction, so I'm allowed to do what ever I want.**

**And, for anything who has read 'Why Can't I Be Perfect?' it kinda follows that timeline, but a bit different.**

**Ok, let's get one thing straight. I am Tomato-Vampire-Countess, Tomato-Vampire-Countess is me. I wanted a fresh start, and I wasn't about to go through 200+ alerts and turn 'em all off, 'right? So any ideas that overlap from TVC are still **_**mine**_**.**

**Disclaimer: NARUTO universe=Not mine, Next Generation characters=mine.**

Sitting on a flat rooftop sat a blonde girl with bandages over her eyes. With her head turned to the sky, most would swear she was looking at stars, but with the thick bandages in front of her eyes, how could she? She turned her face down and whispered, "I wish I could see the sky...Even if just once." Looking up she gave the nighttime sky a final farewell and crossed the roof, knowing each twist and turn by heart. When she was halfway down the stairs, and almost through the window into her room, she heard her mother's voice, "What're you doing up, Hikari? You have the exams tomorrow."

"I know, Haha," Hikari said, quietly so she wouldn't wake her father and siblings, "I just had to think."

"When I thought I'd go out to my family's greenhouses." There was a sad tone to her mother's voice, as there always was when the woman thought of Konoha, and Hikari quickly said, "How about we go visit the greenhouses by the hospital after the exams, Haha? Just you and me, and you can tell me about the antics of Team 10 under Sarutobi Asuma."

"I'd like that...But how do you know Bunraku wouldn't like to come?" Hikari didn't have to see to know her mother was peering through the window, eyes set on the sleeping brunette boy.

"Chichi told him that he, as in Chichi, would bring Bunraku to his workshop and help him make his first puppet after he passes," Hikari's voice was full of pride, "Chichi has so much confidence in him."

"And in you," neither of the two outside jumped, the mother had felt her husband coming by his unique chakra signature, Hikari had felt his footsteps, "I know both of you will pass, Hikari."

"But-" Hikari had begun to say 'But how can I pass without my sight?' but her mother answered for her father, Hikari could hear him trying to find the right words to say, "You'll pass, Hikari, because you're determined to succeed," and, in a rather wry tone of voice, "Rather like the Hokage...Naruto never did let anything get him down those days." And the woman quickly covered the area between her and her oldest daughter, hugging Hikari and whispering, "Off to bed, the exams are in the morning."

"Hai, Haha."

**Ok, translations of words:**

**Chichi-Father (As in you talking to your father; Otou-san is talking about someone else's father or speaking to them.)**

**Haha-Mother (Like Chichi, it's talking to/about your mother; Okaa-san is just like Otou-san.)**

**Hai-Formal yes**

**Translations of names:**

**Sabaku no Hikari-Light of the sand waterfall (Or something like that)**

**Sabaku no Bunraku-I forget...**

**And guess who the parents are...I basically told you, but just guess.**

**I'll probably be covering just the Suna kids in this story, I might do one with Konoha's, but who knows.**

**-Survive**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer-See prologue**

"Hurry up, Hikari!" The blind girl quickly hurried out of bed at her twin brother's insistent call, "Hikari, we're gonna be late!"

"If you don't shut up, Bunraku, I'll make you!" She was more than a slight bit annoyed because she couldn't find the bandages she wore over her onyx eyes. Letting loose a muttered curseword she ran into the kitchen. "Haha, have you seen my bandage roll? It's missing from my dresser."

The tall blonde woman spun around and called, having immediately guessed the prankster who stole it, "Suurei! Give your sister her things back!" Suurei, four years younger than twelve year olds Hikari and Bunraku was ten times the prankster Bunraku was, making the dark-eyed brunette the Naruto of Suna. "Ane-chan," Suurei said, holding it behind his back, "You can get it back if you can catch me."

"Give it back, dangit!" It looked like the blonde's feet never touched the ground when she felt her bandages cover her eyes. Turning around she felt the chakra in the air and traced it back to her father, master puppeteer Sabaku no Kankuro, "Arigatou, Chichi."

"You're welcome," he said, his tone speaking of amusement, "Hurry up, brats, or you'll miss the exam."

"C'mon!" Bunraku exclaimed, earning him the closest thing to a glare Hikari could manage, _'Dangit,_' he thought, _'It feels like she's glaring at me.'_ Hikari hurriedly said, "See ya later, Yume, Suurei, Yurei!"

They raced out the door and Bunraku was about halfway down the stairs when he realized Hikari had jumped off the landing and was a goodly chunk ahead of him, making him mentally swear. Leaping off he chased after his twin, who had managed to conceal herself in the crowd.

Hikari ducked out of the crowd and down an alleyway, over a fence and landed in the back court yard of the Academy, grinning. She knew Bunraku wouldn't catch up to her, she was one of the few who knew that route, and the others included her cousin, Sabaku no Rubih, Rubih's best friends Tsuki Hoshi and Sunakuro no Chikara, as well Hikari's best friend, Akihiko. He didn't have a last name, but his eyes were odd, one jade green the opposite dark cobalt blue, Bunraku had told her. She had asked him about it, it being his lackage of surname and his strange eyes, once, and he hadn't spoken to her for a full week, so she never asked again, because Hikari didn't want to lose her one true friend.

But now wasn't the time to think on the past, Hikari had a bright future coming, and she was gonna embrace it!

**End of chapter one.**

**Suurei means 'Spirit'**

**Yume means 'Dream'**

**Yurei means 'Ghost'**

**Rubih means 'Ruby'**

**Tsuki Hoshi means 'Moon Star' or 'Star Moon', depending on which way you translate it.**

**Sunakuro no Chikara means 'Power of the Black Sand', or something close.**

**Akihiko means 'Bright boy'**


	3. Chapter 2

**I do not have a beta, so whatever screw ups there are in this, they're mine and mine alone. I don't really plan on getting a beta, but I might if anyone volunteers.**

**What? No reviewers...Makes me feel loved.**

**Warning: Language (Like dam+n strong)**

**Disclaimer-See prologue**

Sabaku no Bunraku hurried ran through the crowds, not wanting to be late, as he wondered how Hikari vanished so quickly. She had been in the crowd one minute and gone the next. The brunette, though it was almost impossible to see, since he followed his father's tradition of hoods, but not of facepaint, sighed, knowing he'd never get a straight answer from Hikari. His sister was especially skilled in the art of avoiding questions.

Rolling his dark blue eyes he continued on to the school.

Hikari went inside the Academy via the back door and stealthily crept towards her classroom. She silently giggled to herself, then leapt out at the unsuspecting teacher. The young male, roughly seventeen, jumped towards the sky when he heard her cry of "BOO!" "H-Hikari-san," he stuttered, "You sh-shouldn't've done that. W-What if I had pulled a ku-kunai on you?" Sunakuro no Takeshi was Chikara's older brother and Hikari had no clue how he had survived so long as a shinobi, the man was scared of his own shadow!

"Gomenasai, Takeshi-sensei," Hikari bowed low, "I didn't think before I did that." Actually, she had, but she liked to make him think she was an idiot.

Takeshi's chocolate colored eyes looked at his blind student, a sad smile pulling at his lips, _'She's such a wonderful kunoichi, making her blindness into an asset instead of a hinderance. I feel honored that I helped teach her.'_ The young man busied himself with his papers but every once in a while looked up at the one student he had in the classroom. He knew that she, like most of the classroom, thought of him as a stuttering fool, but no one knew that his specialty throughout his entire career was his acting ability. His expertise at espionage had come in handy for all of those classes.

Then the actual teacher came in, Takeshi was just a teacher's aide, but Tsurugi Naito was the real teacher. Young, twenty-eight at the most, and handsome, most of the female students had schoolgirl crushes on the tall man with curly locks of ebony. Not that Takeshi could blame them, but it hurt that no one liked him; When he was twelve his light brown hair and dark eyes had his classmates swooning over him, but the battle scars he had gained through years apparently had injured his image. With one finger he traced the scar that went through his left eyebrow, curled around the outer side of his left eye and finished at his nose. That had come from a torture session with Oto...Damn, did he hate those guys!

Hikari heard Naito-sensei enter a few minutes earlier, and wasn't surprised to hear Yukio-kun enter. Yukio was Naito-sensei's foster son who chose to stay surnameless instead of adopting the last name 'Tsurugi'.

Then she heard Bunraku enter, followed by Akihiko-kun. She knew Bunraku had entered by his grumbling, Akihiko by the clang of the tassels on Oborozuki Tonbo, his katana, hitting against it. One day Aki-kun had allowed her to touch his sword, and she had felt kanji for Oborozuki Tonbo, and asked him why 'Oborozuki Tonbo' had been engraved into both the sword's hilt and it's sheath.

_"Oborozuki Tonbo is it's name,"_ he had explained, and told her a tale about a sword forged with the wings of a dragonfly that had spectular powers and it had been passed down from generation to generation until it disappeared, but another smith made a new one, named after the other one, but it had been forged in summer, by the light of a hazy moon, so Oborozuki was added to the name.

Akihiko looked around the room and his eyes briefly flew over the white Yukio, who was drawing in his sketchbook, _'He's gonna get himself killed, and the others who are with him, if he doesn't bring his head down out of the clouds,'_ then the crimson haired youth sighed, _'I know that he's the best student in class...And Takeshi-sensei is the one who grades everything! And he does the best in the practical exams...Let's just hope he doesn't go Sasuke on us.'_ Uchiha Sasuke's story was wellknown in not only Konoha but in Suna as well, seeing the Sand Siblings, or Nara Temari, Sabaku no Kankuro and the Kazekage, ended up on the initial hunt...And Hokage-sama was Godaime-sama's best friend.

Yukio felt eyes glaring into the top of his skull so he looked up and black eyes met odd eyes for a total of ten seconds before Akihiko broke contact. Yukio returned to his drawing, which was of Sabaku no Rubih, the Kazekage's daughter. Yukio couldn't deny it, he had a serious crush on Rubih, who was a year behind his class.

Slowly the class trickled in but Hikari didn't notice, she was elsewhere, in the realm of fantasy, dreaming of a day when she woke up and wasn't blind. But she snapped out of her reverie when she heard the names being called:

"Akemi!" Akemi, a darker skinned boy with brunt ember colored hair and matching eyes, went in and came out victorious.

"Akihiko!" Takeshi-sensei called, and as her friend made his way down the stairs, she leaned over to her neighbor, Hanagumori Nadare, "Could you tell me when they come out if they passed and where they're wearing their hitai-ates?" Nadare whispered 'Yeah.'

Akihiko came out with his hitai-ate in place of the strap of his sword's sheath, diagonally placed across his chest.

Two more names were called before Bunraku was called into the exam. One minute passed...Two...Three minutes had passed before her twin came out, also victorious, with his hitai-ate around his neck.

Several names were called before she heard hers. The blonde stood up and briskly made her way into the exam room. The minute she stepped in she felt something weird...Something was off. She couldn't feel the floor, couldn't hear footsteps or breathing. It took her a moment or two to realize she was in a Genjutsu and quickly dispelled it.

Then every instinct she had went off screaming 'BEHIND YOU, IDIOT, BEHIND YOU!' She quickly had a kunai in her hand. Spinning she kicked at her assailant, earning a grunt. Her left food shot out and knocked the person's feet from under them. The cursing she heard informed her it a man who attacked her, but she wasn't too interested in that; She was more interested in the hand that had grabbed her foot. Quietly she made two hand-signs, thinking to herself 'Hoton: Yuuyake'. She sent the chakra surge to her ankle and was rewarded by a female voice exclaiming, "Ouch!" Kicking in the direction of the voice she pulled out another kunai and awaited an attack. Then she heard clapping. ...And a thump from the wall behind her.

"Well done, Hikari-chan," the same woman who Hikari had zapped, but not kicked, Hikari pouted, said. "Wait did you do, by the way, to my hand?"

"Hoton: Yuuyake...My mother taught it to me. I used it because it wouldn't hurt you too badly."

"Yes, yes, Afterglow...I remember that one."

"Did I pass?" Hikari asked, and she heard Takeshi-sensei say, "Well done, Hikari-chan, you are now a Genin of Sunagakure."

"YES!" She yelled, pumping her fist in the air, which started people laughing.

**And chapter two is now complete...Translations:**

**Sunakuro no Takeshi: Unbending of the Black Sand (Something along those lines)**

**Tsurugi Naito-Knight sword (Naito=Knight (Like ride in on a white horse and save the day knight) ...I forget the word for night (As in nighttime night)**

**Yukio-Snow boy**

**Oborozuki Tonbo-Oborozuki means 'Hazy moon' and Tonbo means 'Dragonfly'**

**Akemi-Beautiful Dawn**

**Hoton: Yuuyake-Fire Style: Afterglow. Provides a sudden surge of heat that slowly fades (Mine.)**

**Sensei-Teacher**

**-Survive**


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: See prologue**

Bunraku watched as the doors to the exam room closed behind his sister, anxiety clearly written across his face. He didn't even realize it when Yukio looked at him. Yukio's amber eyes shut for a minute before he spoke, his tone impassive, "Hikari will be fine, she's the top kunoichi in the class."

Bunraku looked back at the white haired kid, glaring, but before he opened his mouth, Akihiko beat him to it, "Don't you care? Hikari's _blind_, most countries won't accept them into the _academy_, let alone give them shinobi status!"

"And who is her father? Who is her mother? Who're her godparents? Who's her uncle?" Yukio asked, "They're all famous people, all of whom have one thing in common; Their skill. Her father is Sabaku no Kankuro, the Kazekage's brother, and a master puppeteer. Sabaku no Ino, formerly Yamanaka Ino, had a statue erected in her honor for what she did during the war, and she was one third of the Ino-Shika-Chou trio. Her godparents are Namikaze Naruto and his wife, Hinata, who are, I might add, the Rokudaime Hokage, also known as the Kazekitsune, and the Yuki no Juu. Her uncle is the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara. I don't believe any of them would let her into the academy without training her. Or without believing she had the will to do it." He paused, "Now, do you think they'll bar Hikari?"

"How do you know all that?" Akihiko asked, and Yukio's reply was "I pay attention." For an odd reason, a look of pure dislike crossed Akihiko's face and he tackled the pale youth. Yukio caught his fist before he grabbed Akihiko's head and repeatedly slammed it onto the desk. In a quick motion, Yukio kicked Akihiko's feet out from under him and then pitched him across the room, "Think before you fight, Akihiko, and pick your battles. You're death will be farther off that way."

"Jerk," Akihiko muttered, picking himself up from off the floor, glaring at Yukio, who was calmly gazing back. The paler boy sat down and began to draw once more and Akihiko stomped over to Bunraku, still annoyed. "'Think before you fight,'" Akihiko said, before he spat, "That boy's annoying as heck. He was probably abandoned on the streets because no one wanted an albino freak for a son." Bunraku noticed Yukio slumped at this. After punching Akihiko for his idiocy, Bunraku hissed, "I may not like Yukio, but that was stupid! How do you know what his parents were thinking? Stop being a jerk!" Akihiko glared at him and he glared back, then they heard "YES!" from the exam room and soon after Hikari walked out, hitai-ate over her bandages, a grin adorning her face.

She calmly walked across the floor over to the side of the room where Yukio was sitting. Hikari climbed the stairs and sat down next to the boy, whisping something to him. Yukio looked up from what he was doing and gave her a small smile. She felt the tension around him and asked, "Akihiko was being a jerk again, right?" The pale boy's eyes widen, then he sighed, "Yes." Yukio and Hikari weren't best friends, but when they were younger she had stumbled upon the boy crying and he had told her, after much resistance, that Akihiko was picking on him for being parentless. She had spoken to Akihiko afterwards but Hikari knew in her heart that he and Yukio would always be bitter rivals.

"They were worried, ya know," Yukio said, and Hikari asked him, "Who were?"  
"Bunraku and Baka," was the calm reply.

"Ah, the two B's." Hikari gave a quiet giggle, "Why? And stop calling Akihiko Baka!"

"They thought you would be barred because you're blind, I told them otherwise."

"Thank you," the blonde smiled at him and he smiled back, "By the way, I heard a thump...What was that?"

"Baka attempted to jump me...I flung him across the room." Yukio looked down, "Then he told your brother he wasn't surprised my family didn't want me...In his words who would want an 'albino freak for a son'?"

"I'm gonna slap him." Hikari said calmly, "Right now." But before she could move to go slap the jerk, Takeshi and Naito walked out of the exam room. "Well done, class!" Takeshi said, causing half of the room's occupants' jaws to hit the floor, "Most of you passed! Return here tomorrow for your team assignments, and you don't have to wear the uniform." All of the students at the Academy had wear tan pants and white shirts as a uniform. It was meant for training, not for comfort, so it was hot in summer and cold the winter. Takeshi continued, "I welcome you as the newest Genins in Sunagakure!" He grinned at them, then told them "You may leave now."

As soon as he gave the dismissal the newly-made Genins hurried out.

**End chapter 3...**

**Yuki no Juu-Along the lines of Queen of Snow or Snow's Queen.**

**Baka-Idiot**

**Kazekitsune-Wind Fox or Fox Wind, depending on which way you translate it.**

**Oh...'hot in summer and cold in winter' is from Tamora Pierce's Wild Mage (Daine speaking to...I forgot her name...about Daine's dresses)**

**I hope y'all like it so far!**

**-Survive**


	5. Chapter 4

**There is no definitive length for a chapter...It all varies on what I think I can fit into one, so...It could be a little over 500 or somewhere about 2,000, it all depends.**

**Oh...This one kinda explains some things.**

**Disclaimer: See Prologue**

Every Genin was celebrating as they went home, Hikari and Bunraku were no exception. The young puppeteer was cheering and Hikari was smiling as she listened to Bunraku rattle on, "Ya know I'm gonna make my first puppet today? I know Dad's let me use his, and they're pretty good, but _nothing_ beats making your own."

"As long as it can hold up in battle." Hikari replied calmly. He glared at her, but she continued walking.

Bunraku began to run faster when he saw Hikari was getting ahead, but for an odd reason the blonde was always ahead of him...Even when he was _sure_ he had passed her earlier. Hikari giggled as she felt her brother trying to outrun her Genjutsu, _'This is gonna be so funny!'_ And it was. The female twin was running across the rooftops wondering when her twin would figure it out, _'Of course MY brother in the only person who can't tell that's a Genjutsu!'_ Shaking her head she continued on home.

Bunraku was panting when he got to the house, and he walked in to see his sister calmly eating a riceball. "How-How'd you-I was-" Bunraku wasn't able to put a sentence together, then he realized, "You used a Genjutsu on me!"  
"I was wondering when you'd figure it out...You passed the exam without being able to sense a Genjutsu?" Hikari asked, giggling.

"Hikari." Ino said, turning around from her cooking to look at her oldest daughter, "What have I told you about using jutsus on your siblings?"

"Does Bunraku count as a sibling?" Hikari asked, "He's more a pet."

"Hikari!" Ino was laughing, "That's not nice!"

"But it's the truth! He makes a mess and doesn't pick it up like a dog does! He doesn't take baths without starting a new Ninja War!" Hikari was trying to support her theory her twin was switched with a dog at birth then Kankuro walked in. Ignoring the giggling blondes he walked over to his oldest son, "How 'bout we get a move-on? We'll let the girls continue giggling."

Ino watched as her son and husband left the building, _'He's grown up...Actually both of them have...'_ Ino remembered when she first met Kankuro, in the Chuunin Exams; She had thought him to be a total and complete jerk with an ego the size of the Death Forest, but later she fell in love with him when he showed his kinder side. And Bunraku had definitely matured from the little five year old who followed her around everywhere. She turned her attention to her oldest daughter, who had also grown up, definitely more mature than her twin, but still had that childish side. "C'mon," Ino said, "To the greenhouses." The two kunoichi left, knowing there would be several hours before everyone else returned.

Back at the academy several people were in a room, not talking, until the pinkette on the far, far right opened her mouth, "So those two were Ino-pig's kids."

"And Kankuro's," a pale-skinned, dark haired woman said.

"Which explains the boy's puppetry." A pale skinned man said, his onyx eyes showing no emotion, "Both are _extremely_ talented for those two's kids."

A woman with her honey blonde hair in four ponytails immediately jumped to their defense, "And if my memory serves me correctly, Ino's got her own statue because of what she did in the war against _your_ former master!"

"Temari..." A dark haired man with his hair in a pineapple-shaped ponytail said lazily.

"They're your relatives, too, Shikamaru! Hikari may have been born blind but she took down the Uchiha well enough, and Sarutobi-san's Genjutsu was nothing to laugh at, and did you see the speed she brought that one down? I'm not intending to be rude, Barako," the pale skinned curly haired woman standing beside Sakura was pouting, "I didn't know how strong she'd be! You all told me her parents sucked at Genjutsu!"

"Saying Ino sucked at Genjustu would be like saying Kankuro sucked at puppetry," Shikamaru said, "Ino was very good at Genjutsu...It probably has something to do with the mind-control of the Yamanaka clan."

"And Ino's the best T&I specialist in all of Suna." Hinata offered up.

"Ino-san and Kankuro-san are very talented at what they do, and I'm not surprised that both of their kids are talented," a new voice said, and all eyes turned to one of Barako's twin brother, this one being Kitane, a tanned-skin, red-eyed master swordsman, "And all I know of them are stories about my father's first genin squad...And what little makes it from Suna to Konoha."

"Are you still talking about Hikari and Bunraku?" Sakura recongized him as the teacher's aide, Takeshi, but Barako recongized him as someone else, "You're him! That master spy...Um," she snapped her fingers, so her other brother, the crazier one, Chiriku offered up, "Possibly the Devil's Son?"

Takeshi grinned, and said, "Don't ask how that title came to be, but, yeah."

"Hmm...You're a little bit young," Temari said, and Takeshi gave her the smile that had _every_ _single_ girl in his academy class swoon, "I graduated the Academy when I was ten...Rather a prodigy student, really. I caught the end of the war, before Ino-san fell into her coma."

"She was in a coma?!" Sakura, Sasuke and Shikamaru exclaimed at once, and Hinata and Temari gave them looks. Takeshi just raised an eyebrow, "Yes, she was, and when she came out of it, she continued her career in Torture and Interrogation and raised her family."

"And trained Hikari to survive in the shinobi world even without her sight, and Naruto and I helped when the twins came for the summer, winter or whichever period of time Ino and Kankuro sent them to us," Hinata said.

"They came to Konoha?" Sakura asked and Hinata replied, "Never during the war, Ino thought her kids would be safer where she and Kankuro could keep an eye on them, but afterwards, yes, frequently."

"But why did they, as in Ino and Kankuro, make you and Naruto Hikari's godparents?" Temari asked, neither her sister-in-law or her brother bothered to explain it to her, no matter how many times she asked.

"They believed Naruto's cheerful, determined personality would help her feel blessed instead of cursed and both thought I could possibly help her with develop ways to use her chakra to find things." The famed kunoichi replied.

Takeshi watched this, and quietly wondered, _'What do you, and the entire class, have in store for us, Hikari, Bunraku? What will you surprise us with tomorrow? What will you do?'_

**End chapter 4...Ok, Sarutobi Barako, Sarutobi Kitane and Sarutobi Chiriku are the oldest children of Sarutobi Asuma and Sarutobi Kurenai...Ya know what? Asuma's no longer alive. He **_**was**_** killed by Hidan, and Kurenai...Well, I'll explain that later.**

**I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do with the conversation between the adults, but this kinda does tell you something, right? It explains what Ino's been doing, and why Hikari's the godkid of NaruHina...And that both twins are meant for great things.**

**-Survive**


	6. Chapter 5

**Ok, reason behind the appearance of the Konoha nin, more of a filler chapter, really.**

**Warning: Language (Same as chapter 2, with another word for 'butt')**

**Disclaimer: Hikari, Bunraku, Yukio, Akihiko, Kitane, Chiriku, Barako, Takeshi, Naito=Me. Naruto, Ino, Kankuro, Hinata, Sakura, Gaara=Not mine. So, , don't. You. Dare. Sue!**

Hikari enjoyed that day with her mother, and she loved it when Bunraku 'showed' her his puppet, meaning he grabbed her hands and ran them over the smooth wood. The puppet was rather fox-like, with the ears and tail, and snout, and he explained it was a deep brown in color. It shot needles from it's mouth and had claws in it's paws. "It's not much," he had said, "But it's my first puppet."

"It's great," she had replied, "It's a very good first puppet." The blonde didn't have to see to know her brother was grinning. "I like it...But why a kitsune?"

"It was gonna be a cat, but I made it a fox out of honor for Naruto."

"Ah." The two had gone to bed not long afterwards and their parents, after making sure all of their five kids, "Why did we get _five_?!" Kankuro had asked in a hushed whisper, which Ino had replied to, "Try being Forehead or Hinata, Sakura's got ten, Hinata's got nine," the parents slipped out into the night.

Ino leapt from rooftop to rooftop, knowing what was coming, she was finally going to meet Asuma-sensei's children, and see Sakura for the first time since she was twenty, which was well over ten years ago. Kankuro had his eyes on his wife, knowing she was anxious about seeing her old friend, they hadn't exactly parted in friendly terms the last time they met, and that Ino was also anxious about meeting the children of her dead sensei...And Shikamaru, who Kankuro knew had broken Ino's heart once, not caring she was transfered, actually telling her it was for the good of Konoha! Damnit, the Nara destroyed one woman he loved and stole another...Ino for Temari, that was the trade.

Soon the parents landed on the roof of the Kazekage's Tower and as they made the descent, both of them thought the same thing _'Should we be doing this?'_

"Hello, Pig," was the greeting Sakura gave Ino when the duo entered the Kazekage's office. Jade eyes met cornflower blue ones, neither flinching. Ino smirked, flipping her long braid from her shoulder to do her back, and Sakura looked down, "Gomenasai sumimasen, Ino-chan, gomenasai."

"What're you apologizin' for? All was forgiven." Ino smiled at her childhood friend, then a look of pure shock covered her features when she looked passed Sakura's shoulder, "Y-You're Asuma-sensei's kids..." She quickly moved forwards eyes quickly roaming over the trio in front of her. All standing tall. The one in front was male, tanned skin, ruby red eyes, spiky black hair, a katana strapped to his back. Roughly 6'1, the teen was tall, his slender form more of Kurenai's than the rather bulky one of Asuma. He bowed and said, "My name is Sarutobi Kitane, my sister Barako," he had righted himself and he raised a hand to the young woman on left, "And my brother, Chiriku," he raised his right hand, gesturing to the wild haired man on his right. Ino turned her eyes to Barako; With a pale complexion, curly black hair, crimson eyes covered by glasses, looking at her Ino wondered what Kurenai had looked like when she was in her mid-teens. Barako was shorter than both her brothers, Ino guessed Chiriku was around 6'4, probably 5'9. She, like Kitane, was slender, she also hugged a book to her chest. Clad in a black dress that reached her knees with red sleeves and fishnet gloves, Ino swallowed remembering a _very_ similar outfit on Kurenai. Now the blue eyes drifted to Chiriku; Tanned skin, curly and wild brown hair that flared out, his dark brown eyes darted around, when he moved, she noted that when he moved he looked vaguely like a wild animal. He moved to scratch his face and that was when Ino noticed two things: Number one, he didn't shave, and number two, his nails were like claws, a lot like a certain Inuzuka's. "Let me guess," Ino spoke, looking at Chiriku, "Kiba and his wife raised you, didn't they?"

He looked at her, and asked, "How'd you guess?" That was when she realized he also had fangs.

"You move like an animal, you have claws and fangs...Though I don't know many Inuzukas who use bo staffs." He had a tall staff, probably all of two inches shorter then him, made out of something tough, oak probably, ebony would be her second guess. Chiriku grinned at her, "TenTen taught me how to use it."

"Ah." Ino stepped forwards to Kitane and hugged him; She felt him tense beneath her, but she didn't comment. When she moved to Barako, the younger girl put her book down on the chair behind her and hugged her back, Ino whispered in her ear, "Your parents would be proud that their kids grew up so well." Ino felt the Konoha kunoichi smile and saw tears filling the red orbs. "Keep your chin up." Ino whispered to Barako before stepping in front of Kitane to hug Chiriku. After hugging all three she smiled at them and turned to Shikamaru; The man who betrayed her, broke her heart, told her he didn't care and...The man who was her best friend and teammate. "Shika..." She whispered.

Kitane glanced to Barako then moved his eyes to met Chiriku's, this was gonna be hard on the woman, so they quickly and quietly slipped out, Sakura and Gaara following.

Shikamaru raised his chocolate eyes and met Ino's blue orbs. He swallowed when he saw all the emotions flying through them; Hurt, confusion, hatred, sorrow, and love. The love of a sister who had been waiting for her big brother. "Gomenasai, Ino, gomenasai."

She gave him a sad smile, "You aren't Sakura, Shika, you were much, much closer...A simple 'sorry' won't get you out of this. I loved you, you were my brother...Then you didn't give a damn I was transfered...What did you think would happen, Shikamaru? That I would get over it? I'm sorry, _Nara_," he flinched when she said his surname like that, full of so much poison and hatred, "But I've had over fifteen years to think about this. You've had over fifteen years to right your wrongs. But you didn't...And this time I'm not running back to you, this time I'm walking away." And she did just that; She turned around and walked away, then she stopped at the door, looking over her shoulder, she glared at him one last time, and walked out.

"Why did you come, Nara?" Kankuro finally asked after a minute of silence, "I know it has to be important for you to haul your lazy ass outta Konoha."

"We heard Hikari was being tested. She's famous in Konoha, the blind girl with the will to go into the Academy. And Gaara wanted people who were unbiased to test her, seeing as about ninety percent of the teachers at the Academy were biased towards her." Kankuro raised an eyebrow, "My daughter? Famous? Unbiased? I'm sure you were 'unbiased'...You were probably biased...Against her! Just because she's Ino's daughter."

"I wasn't a part of the actual testing. Sasuke and Barako, yes. Me? No."

"There were two women testing her." Kankuro replied, his voice steel.

"An ANBU captain from one of Suna's teams was the second woman...Her name's something like Arashi..."

"Arashi no Tora was a part of the squad under Ino's control when Ino was a captain. I never knew she made captain." Kankuro glared at Shikamaru one more time before walking out, "Just know one thing." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Even if Ino finds it in her heart to forgive you, I never will."

**WHOOP! FIVE CHAPTERS! YES!**

**Chapter six is still being written but it'll probably be fairly long...Not like 10,000 words long, but longer than all of these.**

**Arashi no Tora-Tiger of the Storm (Or Storm of the Tiger...Storm's Tiger...Tiger's Storm...Any of these.) (And, yes, she is a major character)**

**And, yes, Kankuro despises Shikamaru. And, yes, Ino's still got harsh feelings towards Shikamaru. And I won't tell you if Kurenai's dead or not. **

**-Survive**


	7. Chapter 6

**Genin teams this chapter! A finally an appearance by Rubih, Chikara and Hoshi!**

**And this **_**is**_** my first time writing a blind character, so point out mistakes I make 'right? But it's not only from Hikari's POV, it's kinda 3rd person, with 1st person ideas and thoughts.**

**Oh, I forgot what animals are famous for what...Inazuma's a **_**cheetah**_** not a **_**leopard**_**.**

**...And I am hardly EVER around anyone under the age of ten so writing a six-year old is rather hard...Please don't be upset.**

**Warning: Language (I probably won't use the F-word in this story, because that word alone can get a movie an R-rating, and I do my things rather by those ratings:**

**G=K**

**PG=K+**

**PG-13=T**

**R=M)**

**Disclaimer: See Prologue or Chapter 5**

Hikari woke to her mother knocking on the door to the room she, Bunraku and Yume all shared. "You three! Get up! Now! You'll be late!" Hikari heard Yume groaning from above. Plenty of people told her that ten year old Yume, with her perfect blonde hair, bright blue eyes, pale skin, was beautiful, and according to the people who had known her mother from that time, looked a lot like a ten year old Yamanaka Ino. Hikari wouldn't know, because number one, she was blind, and number two, her mother had all of two things from Konoha; Her hitai-ate and the last picture Team 10 ever took. Well, she might have three, if the locket around Hikari's neck was from Konoha.

Hikari rolled out of bed, then stood up and shook her sister's shoulder, "Yume, you'd better get up. Haha wouldn't be happy if you slept in all day. And Rubih, Chikara and Hoshi all would be disappointed if you didn't show today."

"Go away..." Her sister muttered but Hikari kept shaking, then she felt chakra strings above her head and heard the sheets being pulled back. Hikari very quickly moved so she wouldn't be hit in the head by the pillow just pulled from under Yume's head. Yume groaned and curled into a little ball, and Bunraku, who had been the one removing all the comfortable things from Yume's bed crept up beside Hikari and placed his mouth right next to Yume's ear, then yelled, at the top of his lungs, "GET UP, YUME! RISE AND SHI-OOMF!" He didn't finish the last word because Yume punched him, right in the jaw. Hikari giggled, and Bunraku said, "For a girl who's barely among the living, you sure have good aim." Yume just glared at him, her light colored eyes flashing, screaming danger for her older brother. Hikari waited until the two were wreaking havoc before closing the door. Slowly walking over to her dresser she felt around in the drawer before she came up with the outfit she had chosen yesterday. Her mother had explained to her as Hikari ran her fingers across the soft material. It was a Chinese top, with a beautiful gold dragon on the front of a dark gray sleeveless shirt made of silk, gold around the edges. The pants were simple enough, dark gray with several pockets. The shoes were dark gray shinobi sandals, and because Hikari thought the bandanna which had been made to match the top was great, it was there too; She had decided she'd tie it around her neck.

Taking the clothes she made her way to the bathroom attached to the rather large room she and her two siblings shared. She started the shower and after checking the tempature, she stepped in. While washing her hair, Hikari began thinking, _'Will I be on a good team? Who will be my sensei? Will I end up like Team 7? Two rivals and a fangirl? ...I hope Yukio and Aki-kun don't end up on the same team...That team would be doomed from day one.'_ She silently laughed.

After getting dressed she walked out into the kitchen, "Good morning."

"Morning..." Sweet little five-almost-six-year old Yurei said, the little girl had her father's hair and eyes. Hikari smiled at her little sister and said, "It won't be long until your graduating with your class."

"Really?" Yurei asked, her big onyx eyes wide.

"Yep." Bunraku chipped in, grinning at his baby sister, before tackling her and tickling her.

Ino and Kankuro watched this, then Ino looked at Kankuro, "Do you think Shikamaru actually feels sorry?"

Kankuro's facial features hardened as his eyes flashed with anger, "I hope he never comes back around here. I don't give a damn he's my brother-in-law!"

Hikari's head swivelled in the direction of her parents, having heard everything that Ino had said. _'Shikamaru was Haha's teammate...Why would Chichi dislike him so much?'_ Now feeling thoroughly confused, Hikari decided she'd think about it later, before she walked over and grabbed something to eat.

Not long afterwards the twins headed off towards the Academy; Bunraku taking the route he took every day and Hikari dodging through the alleyways again. About halfway there she ran into someone, literally ran into them. And said person began cursing like a maniac.

"Calm down, Chikara." That was Rubih.

"Are you Ok, Hikari-chan?" That was Hoshi.

"Yes, I'm Ok." Hikari said, standing up and dusting herself off, "Are you Kara?"

"I'd be better if you hadn't knocked me over, but, yes, I'm Ok." Chikara tended to be grouchy in the mornings. Rubih rolled her amber eyes, but did look over Chikara for injury. Because Rubih's father was the Kazekage, Rubih felt it was her responsibility to make sure people were safe.

Hikari took off for the Academy once more and she knew, from the pounding of feet behind her, the trio were following. Hikari heard Rubih ask Hoshi, "Who do you think gonna be on Hikari-chan's team?"

"I don't know, Rubih-chan, but I think she and Yukio-kun would be a good team." Hoshi replied quietly. Hikari kept running as she thought about of that, _'We'd definitely be a powerful team but...It could happen.'_

"Hikari, Yukio and that boy...Daineko what's-his-face would be a powerful team." Chikara said, which prompted Hikari to answer, "His name's Daineko Ryou." All the while Hikari was thinking of the quiet boy; The Daineko clan was the equivalent of the Inuzuka clan in Konoha, only their animals were large cats. Ryou's cat was a leopard by the name of Inazuma. Ryou was very quick, matching his leopard's name and speed, and both she and Yukio were as well. So they could be a reconaissance team.

Chikara was starting to say something, but then they were at the Academy. Hikari ran across the back courtyard quickly, but slowed down so she wouldn't go through the door. Opening the door quietly she slipped inside, then walked down the hall to her classroom.

Hikari felt around the room with her chakra, and found she wasn't the only one early today; Ryou, Yukio and two others were there. She didn't care about the two giggling fangirls in the corner, probably Yukio's fangirls, so she walked over to where Yukio and Ryou were sitting side by side.

Inazuma knew she was coming before her owner did, but the leopard alerted him by moving so Hikari could step passed. Sitting between the two she didn't speak. None of them did as the classroom began to fill.

When the room was full, Naito stepped forwards to talk, "I won't give you a huge speech, but a warning; You're now Genin, Suna now depends on you to keep it safe. You have a duty now. Do it." Bunraku watched this, noting it was the most serious he had ever seen his teacher; Usually the man was smiling as he taught, now he was looking each person in the eye, a neutral expression on his face. As Bunraku's royal blue orbs met his teacher's blue violet Bunraku nodded, a completely serious look on his face, and Naito realized Bunraku was doing it for him and Hikari. After Naito finished looking people in the eye he looked back at Bunraku and when their eyes met, he nodded.

Then Takeshi stepped forward, holding the roll of team assignments. Looking around the room, the scarred man looked down at the scroll and began reading, "Team 15, under Sunakuro no Isas," _'Oh, look, Dad's teaching again...I feel for those kids.'_ Takeshi though, "is formed of Shiriyuri Akemi," both Bunraku and Akihiko just found that funny because Akemi had the darkest skintone but his surname meant 'White lily', but Bunraku was better at hiding the fact he was laughing, and Akihiko earned a glare from Naito, "Yosamu Yuugao and Higurashi Hasu."

"Teams 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 are still in the field from last year, Team 21, under Tsuki Fuyu and Tsuki Nadare, Akihiko, Sabaku no Bunraku and Daineko Uta." Daineko Uta was Ryou's cousin, her cat was a tiger named Akasuki.

Hikari began to drift away until she heard "Team 29, under Arashi no Tora, Yukio," she felt the white haired boy beside her shoot up, "Daineko Ryou," Ryou also stiffened, and she could feel the tension, until Takeshi said "and Sabaku no Hikari." Both boys lost all their tension and Hikari muttered, "I'll have to tell Chikara she was right." Yukio, forgetting she was blind, gave her a strange look and Ryou, after rolling his eyes at the artist, asked, "What?"

"I ran into Rubih, Chikara and Hoshi earlier and they started talking about teams. Chikara said she wouldn't be surprised if we were a team."

"Oh." Ryou said, then asked, "Do either of you have any clue who the heck Arashi no Tora is?"  
"One of my mom's ANBU teams had an Arashi no Tora on it." Hikari said, and Yukio said, "When I was about eight, someone told me how I was found...An ANBU calld the Storm of the Tiger had rescued me from the apartment building I was in that was burning to the ground...The ANBU had a tiger mask instead of one that revovled around stars, moons and suns." Ryou gave him a strange look, but Hikari replied, "The ANBU from different countries wear different masks. Hokage-sama allowed me to hold his old Fox mask from when he was in the ANBU, as did my own mother; Only her design was of a moon eclipse with the stars all around. I've heard people mention that Kumo's revolves around storms and clouds and the like. Kiri's is just painted lines on flat masks, like Suna's, whilst Iwa and Konoha both make their masks specific shapes. Iwa's masks revovle around insects." Both boys were confused by this and Hikari held up her hands, guessing what they were about to ask, and said, "Don't ask me. I don't know."

The trio settled into a comfortable silence as the people around them settled down to wait for their teachers. Hikari's ears heard movement in the hallway, and she told Yukio and Ryou in hushed tones, "People are coming, three at the most, two at the least."

"Why not just one?" Yukio asked, and Hikari's reply was "I hear five footsteps and what sounds to be a staff...The third's probably lame in one leg."

"One team does have two teachers," Yukio commented.

"I wasn't listening..." Ryou admitted said.

"Team 21, under Tsuki Fuyu and Tsuki Nadare." Yukio told him.

"Hoshi's mother and grandfather." Hikari said, "Fuyu's been an ANBU member since she was fifteen, and was basicly trained for it since she was old enough to throw kunai...And Nadare was the T&I specialist marshell before my mother. I feel for my brother...That team's gonna be ANBU before they turn twenty if either of those two have any say in the matter."

"I'd say I feel for Akihiko, but I don't." Yukio said, his voice ice cold. Then Fuyu, Nadare and a tall, buff man walked in. Bunraku looked at the third man and noticed the uncanny resemblance to Takeshi and Chikara, _'Probably their dad...He's teaching Team 15.'_

"Team 15," Isas called, and Akemi, Yuugao and Hasu walked down the aisle and followed the older man.

"Team 21!" Fuyu called, her blue eyes telling them she wouldn't stand for any nonsense. Bunraku gulped but walked down to the duo. Bowing, he said "Fuyu-sensei, Tsuki-sama

"You're Rubih's cousin..." Nadare said, "Bunraku, isn't it?"

"And my mother is Sabaku no Ino." The puppeteer replied, straightening up.

"Ah, my replacement," Nadare said lightly, "How is she doing these days?"  
"Very well, Tsuki-sama." Bunraku bowed again.

"Don't call me Tsuki-sama, I'm Nadare-sensei."

"You're also the Tsuki clan leader." That was Uta, "And that title deserves respect." The five people made their way out of the classroom.

Hikari settled back to wait as Yukio began to draw again and Ryou absent-mindedly stroked Inazuma. Teams 32, 25, 41, and 26 left in a roughly thirty minute timespan about ten minutes after Teams 21 and 15 left.

Then in walked a tall woman in black. Her dark ginger hair was held back by the hitai-ate across her forehead and her dark chocolate orbs scanned the room. Tora smirked when her eyes landed on her team sitting side by side. The white haired boy was drawing in a notebook, _'He reminds me of someone...That pale skin...Those facial features...'_ Tora's eyes narrowed as she tried to remember who she was thinking of, then she looked at the blind girl,_ 'Ino's oldest daughter...Definitely got the Yamanaka pig-headness...She got into the academy by pure determination...'_ Finally her eyes landed on her finally Genin, _'The Daineko heir...Definitely looks to be a fighter. Probably meant more for speed, like the other two...I'm definitely enjoy this team.'_ "Team 29! Follow me!" She smirked when she saw they all leapt up at the same time, the Daineko's cheetah leading the way. Tora took off at a rather slow pace for her.

Hikari muttered something rude under her breath as she took off with the other two after her teacher. Tora lead them out of the academy the backway and began running down alleyways. When Hikari realized where they were heading, she smirked, she was in her element; Hikari took the alleyways everywhere, she knew them all like the back of her hand.

Tora jumped over a fence and slid under another. She had heard Hikari speed up and knew the blonde was right behind her. The ANBU decided to test how much Hikari knew so she started doing quick turns further into the labyrinth of alleys. When Hikari realized where she was going she dropped back to help Yukio, who wasn't very good at running around in alleys.

_'Good,'_ Tora thought after a minute, _'They're all keeping up with me.'_ Then she ran up the back stairs of an apartment building.

Yukio grinned when he heard Ryou swearing. They were going higher, he was in his element. The pale boy followed Tora over the roofs without much trouble. Then he saw a large gap and after a minute or two of mental discussion he did a few handsigns and made a bridge of wind for Inazuma to get over. Ryou nodded to him in thanks.

After a few minutes of jumping from roof to roof, Tora decided they'd start going through the crowded streets now.

When Yukio saw where they were going, he slowed down and placed a hand on Hikari's back, whispering to her, "Don't worry, I'm here, you won't get lost." When Hikari was about six, she got lost in a crowd and couldn't find her way back home. It gave her a fear of large crowds without someone there beside her, making sure she wouldn't get lost again.

Tora heard Yukio drop back, and wondered what that was about, then she remembered Hikari never, _never_ went near large crowds, _'She's probably afraid of getting lost like she did when she was six...'_ Yes, Tora knew about that, Ino had freaked out when she couldn't find her blind daughter...And it didn't help Tora or Kankuro that she was eight months pregnant with her fifth and final child.

Ryou also slowed down, and sent Yukio a confused look. Yukio mouthed "She's afraid of getting lost in a large crowd." Ryou nodded, and ordered Inazuma to go up behind Hikari and get the blonde on her back.

Hikari felt a head bump between her legs and suddenly she was riding something soft and silky, "Inazuma?"

"Now you won't get lost," Ryou said.

"Arigatou." They went through the crowded streets until Tora lead them to a restuarant. The trio smelled pork and Ryou made happy noises.

Tora grinned when she saw Hikari on Inazuma and heard Ryou's joyful noises. "Well done you three."

"Hmm?" Hikari asked.

"Most senseis give you tests like having to find them and beat them or something. I gave you a test to see if you could keep up. I had no idea you three would help each other." Tora smiled at them, "But I think what you three did for each other counts. Well done, you're officially genin. Now, let's go inside."

**End chapter 6...Yes, I do know that wasn't much of a test but I was getting sick of writing and I really wanted to wrap up the starting arch in 7 chapters...The seventh will be introductions and crap like that.**

**I am not translating things in this chapter...My arm already hurts like all heck.**

**-Survive**


	8. Chapter 7

**As promised, introductions this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Prologue and Chapter 5 have disclaimers.**

Team 29 followed Tora into the restuarant and she sat them down at her favorite booth, it was the corner booth where she could her eyes on both entrances, the main one where customers entered and the back entrance in the kitchen.

Ryou looked around and realized why the seasoned kunoichi liked this booth. A smirk graced his features as his gray orbs flicked across the room to land on the kitchen's door. Then his eyes snapped back to Tora as she began to speak, "I'll start off the introductions then. My name is Arashi no Tora, I'm thirty-one. My specialties are Ninjutsu, Fuuton and espionage. I'm an ANBU Captain," before any of the Genins opened their mouths, "I'm not the only one this year 'round. Or even the last years. In the last five years since the war they've been assigning more and more ANBU and Captains to teach Genin how to survive. Fuyu's still an active ANBU. As is Isas. Umeko, Murasaki and Kirimi are all returning ANBU teachers," looking around the ANBU decided to bring the topic back to the introduction, "I like to sculpt in my free time, my favorite colors are red, orange and black."

"I'm Daineko Ryou," Ryou said after a minute, "I'm twelve. My specialties are Taijutsu and Doton. I like to train, with Inazuma and on my own. When I'm not training I do origami." Tora quickly hid her laughter behind a sudden coughing fit, _'I've _never_ met a boy who does origami!_'

After a second of looking at his teacher weirdly, Yukio decided to introduce himself, "My name is Yukio. My specialties are Ninjutsu and Suiton. I like to draw and train."

"I'm Sabaku no Hikari. I excel at Genjutsu," _'Oh, the irony!'_ Tora thought, doing her best not to laugh, _'A blind girl who's good at playing with your sight!'_ "And Raiton and Katon jutsus. I like to learn and I enjoy playing the flute." _'Something she doesn't really have to look at to do...'_ Tora felt some sorrow for the girl, _'She probably doesn't know what her teammates, or family, look like!'_ Looking back at the table in front of her, wheels began turning in Tora's head, a plan beginning to form. A smirk crossed her face for a moment, but it was there long enough for Yukio's eyes to narrow, _'Why is she smirking? What is she thinking?'_ Amber eyes returned to Hikari when she asked, "When will our first mission be?"

"Tomorrow," Tora said, after a moment, "Gives us a head start on missions...And," she glanced over them, "Though I said that run could've been a test, I might be wrong...Tomorrow will also test your teamwork. Learn each other's strengths and weaknesses. You'll never know what could happen on a mission." A rather sad smile graced her face, before Tora wiped all emotion from her face, "Plan A...Usually doesn't work. Plan B...Sometimes, but not most. Plan C, improving in the field works about ninety percent of the time...The last ten? Usually people don't make it out." Had Bunraku or Akihiko been there, one of them would have asked "Why are you telling me this?" But Team 29 was much better than that, they knew why; This information would help. And Tora probably wanted to drill it into their heads.

Ryou was about to speak when the food arrived. And nothing could shut a Daineko up quicker than food. He began to stuff his face, and both Yukio and Hikari quickly moved to grab food. Tora watched for a minute, whispered to the waiter to put it on her tab, and snuck out the back exit; She had something to do.

Hikari felt Tora leave while Yukio watched the ANBU make her exit. Ryou's dark orbs narrowed as he heard Tora sneaking out, but he contined to eat as though he hadn't realized she was gone.

"She's up to something," Yukio said after a minute, and Ryou added, "She didn't tell us she was leaving. And instead of using the main one, she used the back exit."

"Maybe she just prefers the back exit." Hikari said, "She probably isn't planning anything malicious. Maybe Tora-sensei just needed to talk to someone."

"Yeah, and leaving without telling us is good sensei behavior?" Ryou asked, skeptical.

"Sensei said we need to learn each other's faults and weaknesses, why don't we concentrate on _that_ instead of _this_." Hikari said.

"Like I said, I'm good at Taijutsu and Doton jutsus are my best, but I suck at Genjutsus...I can never tell when I'm under one!" Ryou through up his hands in despair, "Think you can help?" He turned puppy eyes to Hikari, and Yukio thought, _'A cat who makes puppy dog eyes...How funny.'_

"Yes, I can." Hikari nodded, "And you can help me in return, payback if you will. In the words of Kaito-sensei," both boys glared, everyone at the Academy despised the Taijutsu teacher, Sunakuro no Kaito, a total jerk with an ego the size of Iwa's, "'I'm a little girl who shouldn't even be thinking of being a shinobi because I'm blind.'" Yukio muttered a few rude curses under his breath and Ryou was thinking of all the pranks he could talk Suurei into doing, or do on his own. He and Hikari barely knew each other, but he knew her blindness was a soft spot, something no one in Suna, on her side, her _allies_, should be touching. "Because he won't help me much..." Hikari said and Yukio muttered another rude curseword, "My Taijutsu is mediocre, at best, because Bunraku and Aki-kun help." Ryou nodded, "I'll help, I can probably teach you a move or two, but I'd have to run that passed my grandfather."

"And you can probably help me, too," Yukio said. "Both of you. I'll help you with your Ninjutsu in return."

"Ok," Hikari nodded, "We should probably start working on that, but," she said, "We shouldn't exhaust ourselves. We'l-"

"We'll need the energy, got it!" Ryou nodded. Then he looked at the food, "But could we finish eating first?" The other two laughed and Hikari said, "Yeah, we should."

**And end the beginning arc!**

**Tomorrow (Probably not tomorrow, but...) we shall have the first Genin mission! I know I said it includes Bunraku, but if I did that I'd have more to write, so it'll probably be centered on Hikari.**

**Review? PLEASE?! PLEASE?! All 3 reviews I have are from my friend! Thank you Kiyoshi-chan! But it'd be nice to have a good critique. Ya know what? No updates until I get 2 reviews. (5 might be pushing it with the amount of people reading it.)**

**-Survive**


	9. Chapters 8&9

****

IS SCREWING ME UP! *Waves her arms around like a maniac* This is chapters 8 and 9...8 wouldn't post by it's self.

World of D-ranks, here we are!

This chappie is dedicated to every arachnophobic in the world and every brave person who squishes spiders! A lot of spider-squishing this chapter!

Also dedicated to the housewives and cleaning ladies who have pick up horrendous messes.

Language alert.

Disclaimer: This is only chapter 8-9 (Chapter 8 wouldn't post...), chapter 10 I'll give you a new disclaimer to stare at. 'Til then Chapter 5's still open.

Chapter 8: Biding Time

Hikari rolled out of bed. She, Ryou and Yukio practiced from two in the afternoon until eight at night...Six hours straight! Hikari smiled, both boys were good teachers. And according Ryou, she was too.

Hikari heard Bunraku groaning from across the room and she remembered he told her to wake him up when she woke up, because he had to make it to his team's test...At 6:32, yes, exactly, in the morning. She walked over and shook the young puppeteer awake. Randomly guessing the time, she returned her attention to her sleeping lump of a brother, "Raku-kun, you need to get up. It's about 5:30 and I know you want to eat and shower before hand, so..."

"I'm up, I'm up!" Bunraku said, arms shooting up straight in the air. Hikari cocked her head to the side, "What's with you and waking up like a mummy?"  
"It's funny, and it scares the crap out of Princess over there." Bunraku nodded his head in the direction of the sleeping Yume. Bunraku looked at the sleeping Yume for a minute, knowing when she got older boys would be lining up to date her, and they would...Over his dead body!

Hikari grabbed her clothes to take the first shower as her brother hurried out to make breakfast, seeing as their parents probably weren't awake.

Bunraku walked down the hallway to the kitchen/dining room/living room area, this house had a very open plan once you leave the bedroom section, and saw his father sitting down at the kitchen table, face downcast. "What's wrong?"

Kankuro almost jumped when he heard his son ask him something, "Huh?"

"What's wrong? You don't look good." Bunraku repeated, his almost-black eyes looking his father over, and Kankuro sighed, "It's something your mother should tell you."

"Doesn't tell me much." Bunraku replied, running a hand through his light blonde-brown hair. "My teacher, or teachers, are Tsuki Nadare and his daughter, Tsuki Fuyu."

"They assigned two to a team?" Kankuro asked, and Bunraku replied, "Hikari's teacher is an ANBU captain...Arashi no Tora."

"Arashi no Tora?" Kankuro started thinking, _'Arashi no Tora...'_ "Who's on her team?"

"Daineko Ryou and Yukio." Bunraku replied and Kankuro nodded, _'A connection to all three...Matsuri picked her for a reason...Now I just gotta figure out what the hell my sister-in-law's thinking.'_ "Who's on your team?"

"Akihiko and Daineko Uta."

_'The second in line for the Daineko heir and another orphan...What the _hell_ is my sister-in-law THINKING?!'_

"6:32."

"Only my teacher." Ino said, laughing slightly. "What do you want for breakfast?" She moved over to the kitchen, booting her husband.

"Uh...?" Bunraku and Kankuro exchanged looks, then shrugged. Cornflower blue orbs rolled as Ino started cooking, "How about I make breakfast, just don't expect anything special. By the way, when's Hikari's test?"

"Apparently, already passed." Hikari said, walking in the kitchen, fully dressed, "Tora-sensei had us chase her using every route in Suna, and we all used teamwork; I guided Yukio through the alleys, Yukio made Inazuma, Ryou's cheetah, a bridge over a large gap between roofs, and both boys helped me through the crowded streets." She smiled, "Ryou let me ride Inazuma."

"Was it fun?" Kankuro asked.

"Yep," Hikari cocked her head to the side for a second, as if thinking, "And soft. You would not believe how silky her fur is!"

"I thought Inazuma was a guy?" Bunraku said, looking confused.

"Nope, female." Hikari shook her head, "And then she bought us food then we trained. Ryou helpd me and Yukio with our Taijutsu, I helped them with their Genjutsu and Yukio told us some chakra controlling hints, then he had us walk up the wall of a nearby building." Bunraku exclaimed "AWESOME!" and earned glares from both parents, knowing the younger three wouldn't like to be woken up at 5:47 in the morning, especially not on a Saturday.

"Did he say why?" Ino asked, even though she already knew.

"Yes..." Hikari trailed off as if she was trying to remember, "'The hardest area to gather chakra is your feet.' And shouldn't you hurry up and take a shower?" She directed the final comment to Bunraku, who looked at the time, made a strange noise in his throat and took off towards the bathroom. Hikari just raised an eyebrow, "Tora-sensei told me I wouldn't have to get to the Missions room until eight. Ryou's sleeping in and Yukio told me he wanted to enjoy his last hours of freedom in peace...Can I go with one of you?" Ino and Kankuro exchanged looks, and Ino spoke, "Gomenasai, Kari-chan, but your father and I can't bring anyone with us." Kankuro added, "Rules, regulations and all that shit." Ino hit her husband upside the head and glared at him.

"Oh..." Hikari said, then Ino handed her a bowl of something. "Ramen for breakfast?"

"First thing I could think of," Ino said, waving a hand in the air, "Blame Naruto!" Hikari smiled and Kankuro laughed. Sitting down to eat her ramen, Hikari started thinking of things she could do, 'Play the flute, but that'll wake someone up. Train, but I don't want to be tired later. What to do?'

"You could go to the park," Kankuro said, as if reading his little girl's mind, "Swing. Gaara and Naruto both love swings."

"The Jinchuuriki love swings? What's with that?" A new voice joined the conversation.

"Suurei?" Ino asked, "What're you doing up so early?" The dark haired boy ducked his head and walked over to his mother, hugged her around the waist, and made a motion communicating he wanted to whisper something in her ear. When he was done, the older woman gave him a sad smile and patted him on his head. Kankuro and Bunraku, who had just finished showering, exchanged confused looks, but neither asked.

Hikari did in fact go to the park, but she didn't swing. Her beautiful silver flute in one hand, she sat down on a swing and began to play. The song she placed was a song she had made up when she was younger, the blind kunoichi called it the Song of Stars. She didn't realize she was forming a crowd until she finished the seven minute long song and heard people clapping. Hikari started playing a new song, Song of Victory. As the beat picked up, the crowd grew. She stood up and began to dance, without realizing it. Each step she made was in perfect time with the song's beat.

A person in the crowd realized who she was when she began to dance, 'So this is her,' the man thought, his dark blue eyes full of joy, 'My oldest granddaughter. She looks a lot like her she's got her father in her, as well.' Yamanaka Inoichi turned around and walked away from the crowd, 'Well done, Ino-chan, you raised a beautiful girl.'

Hikari danced around as she started a new song, Song of Winter. Her parents had often sent her and her siblings to Konoha every other winter after the war, and she had loved the cold, it was different. This song was as slow and calm as the Song of Stars, then, as Song of Victory did, it's beat picked up.

She didn't realize Chikara, Rubih and Hoshi were going through the crowd with hats and stuff like that to collect money. Hoshi had asked why they were doing it, Chikara's reply was "So Hikari knows her music is appreciated...We'll give her the money...Well...Most of it, anyway."

Hikari continued to dance and play as she changed the song to Memory Dance, a song she had thought of after listening to her mother talk about Konoha, and her fond memories. The song was sadder than any of the songs before, and everyone noticed. Inoichi's trained ears heard the change and he returned to the crowd in time to hear Rubih tell the other girls, "Hikari came up with this song listening to Ino-oba talk about Konoha...Kari-chan says Konoha makes Auntie Ino sad because all of the good memories she had there and now Auntie Ino barely ever goes there." Inoichi smiled sadly as he thought of his daughter, and he knew he had to go visit her.

Hikari stopped playing, and after calculating the length of her songs, seven minute long Song of Stars, five minute long Song of Victory, four minute long Song of Winter, and nine minute long Memory Dance, she figured she had spent close to half an hour playing. Sighing she realized she still had a half hour until it was time to meet, she had hung around the house until 7, Hikari decided one more song, then she'd go back to the house and put her flute away.

Lifting the flute back to her mouth she began to play Song of Storms; She had picked that song because number one, Chikara liked it, and Hikari knew Chikara somehow always knew when she played, and number two, it was roughly eight minutes long. Once again she began to dance to the beat.

Inoichi stopped and watched her a little more, then he wandered away at the end of the song.

Hikari felt the strange man, who's chakra signature, weirdly, felt a lot like her mother's, leave, and wondered, 'Who is he? Why does his chakra feel like Mom's?' Deciding to ponder those questions later, she continued the song. When she finished, she bowed, then left.

After replacing her flute in it's case, the young shinobi once again took off. Her short blonde hair fanned out behind as she ran. Hikari's feet ran the streets she knew by heart, as she wondered over what her father said yesterday morning and the strange man earlier, 'Dad hates Mom's teammate, and this strange guy shows up with an eerily similar chakra signature to Mom's...Could he be Yamanaka Inoichi, my grandfather?' Shaking her head, she thought, 'Life just got complicated...'

Hikari made it to the Kazekage's tower, which had Mission Control on the first floor. Hikari walked in and asked the secretary what the time was. When she heard it, she groaned, "It's only 7:48?!"

"Let me guess," the secretary said, a smile pulling at her lips, "Your team's meeting at 8? I don't recongize you though." Hikari smiled gently, but didn't speak, not wanting to get Tora-sensei into trouble.

"You're early." Hikari almost jumped when she heard her sensei speak, "Couldn't think of anything to do?" Tora walked over, "I saw, well...Heard, your performance in the park. I also saw three girls making their way through the crowd getting money."

"Chikara has this intution whenever I'm playing, and my cousin and Hoshi come along for the heck of it." Hikari smiled, "They give most of the money, so I'm happy."

"Just most?" Tora asked, her voice filled with humor, "Not all?"

"Chikara wants to be able to afford a katana when she gets older, Rubih wants a new set of kunai and Hoshi's been looking at a set of books since she was seven," Hikari shrugged, "If they really want those things and save up, I won't confront them," she lowered her voice, "They think I don't notice." Tora grinned when she heard that. And Hikari continued, "I just let them live in that illusion."

Ryou and Yukio walked in a moment later and as they made their way over to Tora. The sensei looked at the clock, and said, "7:54? Didn't I tell you 8?"

"Early is better than late." Ryou said, shrugging, "Should we go get a mission?"

"Remember, D-ranks are usually chores for shopkeepers and old people." Tora said and lead them into Mission Control.

"We do..." Ryou said, "Trust me." He gave them a grin and his teammates guessed his parents, or grandfather seeing as he mentioned him, drilled it into his head.

"Team 29, reporting for duty." Tora said, and all them stood straighter.

****

_Chapter 9: Horror Story D-Rank_

"Team 29," Hikari smiled slightly when she heard her aunt Matsuri speak, "Here's your first mission." Hikari heard Tora move towards the front to accept the mission.

Ryou watched as Tora accepted the mission, and wondered why she bowed after accepting the scroll. He'd have to ask her later.

Tora returned to her team, and read it, "An elderly woman needs us to clean her house. Like I said," she said shrugging, "Chores for old people and shopkeepers."

"How big is her house?" Ryou asked and Tora replied, "Two stories and an attic."

"We'll be done by noon." Ryou said, and when they got to the house he discovered he spoke way too soon.

The entire team stood at the open front door, gaping at the mess inside. "No way..." Yukio said, shaking his head, "How can any one old woman make this much mess?"

"Not cleaning it in a year or two can do that." Tora said, picking up a rotten banana peel. Her nosed scrunched up and she stuck out her tongue as she put in the overflowing trash can. "Hikari," Tora said after swallowing, "You...Clean the counters. I'll get the cleaning supplies." Tora went to find them, and not two minutes later her team heard, "SPIDEEEEER!" Hikari sighed as she went to aid her teacher. THUMP! "There, dead spider," the boys heard Hikari say, then she said, "Gimme this." Squick, squick. "No more spider, no more spider guts." Hikari said, and walked back to the kitchen. Placing the cleaning supplies down, she started trying to get the goop off the kitchen floor.

Ryou and Yukio, exchanged glances, and the first went to clean the old lady's bedroom, and the pale boy decided on the downstairs' bathroom.

"I'll start picking up the books," Tora was saying, while thinking, 'There's no way there's a spider in here.' Hikari had only cleaned maybe ten square inches when she heard, "SPIDER!" Sigh, stomp, stomp, stomp, SQUISH! Squick, squick. Stomp, stomp, stomp. Squick, squick, squick. Yukio straightened up, blinked and went back to scrubbing the bathroom counter. Ryou listened to the sounds coming from the front area, then went back to picking up the old lady's clothes, 'Ewwww...She left her underwear on the floor!'

"SPIDER!" Both Ryou and Yukio straightened up to listen; Sigh, stomp, stomp, stomp, STOMP! SPLAT! Squick, squick. Stomp, stomp, stomp. Splat, squick, squick, squick. Ryou called to Yukio, "Know what the splat was?"

"Probably the towel!" Yukio called back. Yukio almost puked when he saw the toilet, 'How the heck can ANYONE live here? It's a biological hazard!'

Hikari had just finished the floor when she heard, for the fourth time, "SPIDER!" The blonde stood up, stomped over to where Tora was screeching, stomped the spider, cleaned up the spider guts, and stomped back to where she was working. 'I feel sorry for the people who can see what this looks like,' she decided after a minute, ''Cause all I can do is smell it, and it smells horrible!' Happily Tora didn't run into anymore spiders...While picking up the books. First thing the unlucky arachnophobe saw on the bookshelf was a "SPIDEEER!" Sigh. Stomp, stomp, stomp. SMACK! Wipe, wipe. Stomp, stomp, stomp. Squick, squick, squick. Ryou and Yukio had met in the hallway between where Yukio was working and where Ryou was, and Yukio said, while trying not to laugh, but the big, face-splitting grin on his face revealed he was enjoying this, "Think Tora-sensei's arachnophobic?"

"Yep!" Ryou was bent in half laughing so hard.

"We should go back to cleaning," Yukio said, his face downcast, "But I really do not wanna go back into that bathroom."

"Switch?" Ryou asked.

"Huh?" Yukio looked at him and Ryou said, "Switch. I do bathroom, you do bedroom."

"Ok." The two boys separated; And both soon wondered if the switch was worth it.

Hikari finished the kitchen floor before she heard the sixth screech of "SPIDEER!" "I'm gonna hate the word 'Spider'!" Hikari muttered, standing up once more to squish another spider. Ryou heard a SLAM! and jumped sky-high. Yukio just straightened, blinked, shook his head, and returned to his work.

Hikari started on the kitchen counter, and was happily halfway done before "SPIDEEEEEEERS!"

"Spiders?" Hikari muttered. She met up with the two boys and they ran to where Tora was standing on a chair, notably, pointing. "Spiders!"

"There's, like, two." Ryou said, bringing up a hand to scratch his forehead. Yukio moved his foot quickly. STOMP! SQUISH! "Vacuum it," Hikari said, facing her teacher with her fists on her hips, "'Bout time you do something!"

"Little harsh," Ryou whispered to Yukio, who just shrugged. The two boys returned to their respective rooms, and Hikari back to the kitchen. She pursed her lips and scrubbed at an extremely persistant stain. Tora took her female student's expression and decided not to yell spider. She failed, but it was a two hour gap beforehand, when she and Hikari were working in the attic. "SPIDER!" Both Yukio and Ryou, who were working in the rather large library on the second floor, stopped and stared at the ceiling. Stomp, stomp, SQUISH! Scrub, scrub. Stomp, stomp, stomp. "Think she knows she's knocking dust off the ceiling?" Ryou asked after a minute, and Yukio shook his head no.

"SPIDER!" Stomp, stomp, SPLAT! Squick, squick. Stomp, stomp.

"SPIDER!" Stomp, stomp, BAM! Wipe, wipe. Stomp, stomp.

"SPIDER!" Stomp, stomp, STOMP! Scrub, scrub. Stomp, stomp.

"SPIDER!" Stomp, stomp, SPLAT! Squick, wipe. Stomp.

"A WHOLE NEST OF SPIDERS!" Stomp, grunt, THUMP! BAM! STOMP! SPLAT! SQUISH! **THUD!** The final thud echoed through out the house, and the boys heard a PHOOOOOOOM, followed by a yell of "NO MORE SPIDERS! HAPPY?!"

"Sounds like Hikari's lost it..." Ryou whispered and Yukio silently nodded. The house was silent throughout the rest of the mission.

Team 29 walked back into Mission Control at six in the evening, making it eight hours of one mission, three of the four looking at the fourth in fear. Hikari was annoyed, actually, she was beyond annoyed, she was pissed.

"You actually finished that mission?" Matsuri asked, with a humor filled voice.

"You sound surprised." Yukio said, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Well, seeing as you're the third team we gave it to..." Matsuri looked embarrassed, "And both of the other teams were about to participate in the upcoming Chuunin Exams..."  
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" All of Team 29 yelled in perfect unison.

**And end! Whoop! This is a humor chapter before all the action...I hope you thought it was funny...**

**These chapters have names because I had no (censored) clue what else to do whilst biding my time 'fore began to accept my documents.**

**I played with the A's in the final WHAAAAAAAAAAT...It's official, I'm bored.**

**-Survive**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 3 of the First Genin arc! YEP! Chapter 10, too, so new disclaimer! (Every five chapters I'll give you a new disclaimer to stare at.)**

**Unbeta'ed.**

**Language warning: PG leveled cussing.**

**Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine. Yeah, ya read that. I just like the characters so much I play with them in my imaginary dollhouse! Kishimoto-sama owns them, I just play with them!**

Team 29 did several random jobs for the first three months as a team, but happily none were even half as bad as the first job they did. Tora had no more run-ins with spiders, Yukio had no more run-ins with overflowed toilets, Hikari had no more run-ins with stubborn stains, and Ryou had no more run-ins with elderly lady's underthings. Inazuma, Hikari realized the next day, had left Ryou's side and turned away before they got within ten feet of the front door; The rather imposing cheetah had stood tall at the gate, frightening off everyone, even the lady who owned the house, until they were done. Then she had rejoined her master, and apparently, asked Ryou for forgiveness, because, according to the young Daineko, "She not go near smell. Smell worse than Master's socks." Ryou had blushed when he told them the second part, and they had all laughed.

Now Team 29 was once again awaiting a mission, and Matsuri looked up, "You've done every D-rank in Suna...Most of them at least twice. I don't think I have anything left."

"We're ready for a C-rank." Tora said, and the three genin behind her straightened. Yukio ran a hand through his long hair, waiting for the mission assignment anxiously. Hikari began to twirl her hair around her finger, biting her lip. Ryou leaned down and scratched Inazuma's neck, right behind her ear, and the cheetah, in turn, rubbed her head up and down his leg, purring, but the cheetah didn't just stay with him. Standing up the large cat made her way over to Hikari and Yukio. Butting her head between the two she purred at them and Hikari smiled before kneeling down to scratch her head, "Good girl," she whispered. Both male members of the team watched with small smiles on their faces.

Tora quickly made her way forwards, then quickly moved back to her team. She gestured for them to follow and they did.

A few minutes later they were seated down at Tora's favorite restuarant, and Ryou asked, "So what's the mission?"

"We're escorting a mother and her child to," Tora squinted at the name, "Yurei no Kuni?"

"Yurei no Kuni?" Hikari asked and Yukio said, "I haven't heard of it."  
"It's right next to Tsuchi no Kuni," Tora said, her eyes trained on the map in front of her.

"Iwa?" All three genin sighed and Tora asked, "What?"

"Neither Suna or Konoha have been on good terms with them since the war-" Yukio was interrupted by Ryou, "We hated Iwa before the war, Yukio, we just weren't as vocal!"

"Whilst I admit you are right-" Ryou once again interrupted Yukio, "What-?!" The two boys started arguing until Hikari yelled, "SHUT UP!" Both boys jumped because Hikari, whilst vocal, normally didn't yell, "I don't know about you two," Hikari faced at them, her mouth a tightline, arms across her chest, "But I, for one, want to have some idea what the hell we're about to get ourselves into!"

"Ok, Ok," Ryou held up his hands in surrender. Yukio just stayed silent, his amber eyes locked on Hikari's face. Tora's eyes locked on this, and a smirk formed on her face. Ryou noticed the smirk and raised an eyebrow in confusion, _'What is she thinking?'_ Yukio blinked and looked down, "Please continue."

"Yurei no Kuni," Tora muttered, scanning the document, then her eyes widened, "Damn."

"What?" All three genin asked in unison, gaining a raised eyebrow from Tora before she replied, "Ryou, remember the name Shichi no Yama?" The dark haired genin paled considerably, and Hikari, picking up on it fast for a blind person, asked, "Ryou, are you Ok?"

"W-We're going n-near _it_?" He whispered and Tora nodded sadly, and Yukio asked, "Shichi no Yama?"

"It's real name is Sunakuro no Yama, the Sunakuro clan coming from there, but after years of shinobi and civilians being killed whilst attempting to climb it, they named it Shichi no Yama." Tora explained.

"Mountain of Suffering," Hikari whispered. Yukio's eyes widened suddenly, but he didn't utter a word, instead he stretched an arm across Ryou's shoulders. Hikari reached across the table to place her hand on Ryou's, "Gomenasai."

"Arigatou," the young Daineko said, then his head came up, "How'd-?"  
"Anyone who paid attention to the shinobi news six years ago would know," Yukio said, "Daineko Kitsune was killed by falling rock, Daineko Raion disappeared, Daineko Shishi found dead at the bottom of a large cliff and Daineko Torako having suffocated in a cave because the entrance collapsed." When Yukio mentioned Raion's disappearance, Tora had looked back to the scroll, but none of the genin noticed.

Hikari swallowed and said, "I don't think I could've survived that; Losing my family all in one day." Ryou smiled sadly.

**End o' chapter 10! By the way, French visitor of mine? I adore you. And I know the first chunk's rather random, give a girl a break!**

**Translations:**

**Yurei no Kuni-Country of Ghosts**

**Shichi no Yama-Mountain of Suffering**

**Sunakuro no Yama: Mountain of Black Sand**

**Kitsune-Fox**

**Raion-Lion**

**Shishi-Lion (Raion and Shishi are two different words for 'Lion')**

**Torako-Tiger child**

**You like? You review before chapter 11 shows it's face! SOMEONE must review, and even though I love you Kiyoshi-chan, your review won't count, I want someone ELSE to review! Please! I've seen ONE-SHOTS with more reviews than I've ever gotten COMBINED! I NEED TO KNOW IF THIS IS TOTAL AND COMPLETE SH*T OR IF YOU ACTUALLY LIKE IT! REVIEW, D*MNIT! C'MON, PEOPLES! HOW HARD IS IT TO PRESS THE BIG BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STUPID PAGE TO REVIEW?! HOW HARD IS IT TO WRITE A FEW D*MN WORDS?! C'MON, YOU EVEN GET TO USE **_**KEYBOARDS**_**, D*MNIT! NO PENCILS OR PIECES OF PAPER! JUST REVIEW FOR PETE'S SAKE!**

**And this is why I don't have a Beta, I've probably scared 'em all off.**

**-Survive**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you to SlEePyVaMpIrE for reviewing! And we get to see Team 21! And chapter 11! OMFG, this is the farthest I have **_**EVER**_** gotten on a story! Whoop, whoop!**

**Language Alert (Again...)**

**Disclaimer: Chapter 10's got a new disclaimer for you to gawk at, go look at it.**

Hikari returned home and discovered her brother's team, all five members, inside the apartment. "What're you doing here?" She asked and Bunraku replied, "Nadare-sensei wanted to talk to Okaa-san."

"Ah, I need to pack and sleep," Hikari said and both Akihiko and Bunraku asked her, "Why?"

"First C-rank, starting tomorrow." Uta looked at her, "May I ask you something?" Hikari nodded, and the auburn haired genin asked, "How does your team do it? Work together?" Hikari shrugged, then said, "We argue among each other, yeah, we fight sometimes, yeah, but we don't have rivalries, we work our butts off, both on missions and training, and we trust each other."

"Ah," Uta looked back to see Bunraku and Akihiko laughing, "Those two," she sighed, "They don't trust me. They think I'm an icicle, too damn cold to care about them."

"Akihiko say that?" Hikari ask gently and Uta nodded, "I ask them if they need help, they say 'No'. I ask them if they'll help me, 'No' once more. They both suck at Genjutsu, which is _my_ specialty, and I'm willing to help, but no matter what-" Uta stopped talking and started growling, something Hikari had heard Ryou do from time to time when he was frustrated.

"Don't worry, Bunraku's my parents' son, he's stubborn, 'bull-headed' if you will, and Akihiko," Hikari sighed, "He and Yukio, remember him?" At Uta's "Yes" Hikari continued, "As I was saying, my teammate and yours have one thing in common; They've basically raised theirselves. Yukio's come out of it quieter, but definitely stronger, and while Aki-kun's stronger, he also likes to do stuff alone, by himself, just to prove he can."

"But what if it's gets Bunraku or I _killed_?!" Uta exclaimed shrilly, bringing everyone's attention to the conversation.

"Akihiko may be a jerk sometimes," "SOMETIMES?!", "But he won't get his teammates killed because of it." Both boys had been listening to the conversation for a while and both looked equally upset because of what Uta had said.

"I need to pack and sleep." Hikari repeated, "I have to be at the gate at seven tomorrow morning."

"First C-rank?" Fuyu asked and Hikari nodded, "Where're you going?"

"Yurei no Kuni."

"Ah." Fuyu's bright blue eyes narrowed, _'The main way to Yurei no Kuni involves Shichi no Yama...There's no way that's a C-rank!'_ Nadare was thinking along the same lines, but more about, _'Whilst Shichi no Yama's bad, people say Yurei no Kuni's cursed...What was it? Something about needing to change the heir.'_ His silver orbs met his former student's baby blue ones, communicating a silent message and Ino's shoulders lost their tenseness, Nadare would take care of her daughter.

Matsuri was sitting in Mission Control when Nadare walked in, "Tsuki-sama," the woman said calmly.

"I want to be on Team 29's C-rank." The man stated calmly and Masturi asked, "May I have the pleasure of knowing why?"

"I want on it." He repeated and Matsuri sighed, "I assume Fuyu's going to be in charge of Team 21 whilst your gone?"

"Yes."

"I'll send a message to Tora, tell her to expect you tomorrow."

"Thank you, Sabaku-sama." He bowed and left.

The next morning Hikari was at the gate at 6:49 in the morning. She yawned, then jumped when she heard, "Tired?"

"T-Tsuki-sama!" She stammered, "I-I-"

The elderly man raised a hand "No need for excuses."

"Why are you here?" Hikari asked and he just smiled, "I wanted to go a C-rank, it will probably another two or three months until my team's up to it."

"But-" Hikari bit her lip, not wanting to finish her sentence, because it was kinda rude.

"But I'm old, right?" Nadare's eyes twinkled when he saw Hikari nod embarrassed. "I'm only fourty-nine."

"Fourty-nine?" Nadare knew it was the Daineko boy, cause he heard the cheetah, and the boy continued, "Most shinobi retire at thirty! Still being active at fourty-nine is a rarity."

"The Godaime Hokage was in her fifties when she took the Hokage's spot." The blinking he got from the Daineko boy and the pale boy, _'I recongize his face! But from where?'_, told him neither boy knew that interesting factiode, "And the Sandaime Hokage re-accepted the position whilst in his _sixties_." Now even Hkari looked slightly surprised and they heard the laughter meaning Tora had arrived, the beautiful redhead spoke, "My father left the shinobi business at the grand age of fifty-three, with a three decade long career as an ANBU captain."

"And both of my parents," Nadare said, "Were in their early fifties before they even _began_ thinking about retiring. My father sadly never made it into retirement, he passed on when he was fifty-nine, but my mother retired at sixty-two."

"And Chiyo-baa-sama returned to active at seventy-three to help hunt her grandson, Sasori. She, sadly, never returned to Suna, but not because she wasn't an excellent shinobi, but so Gaara-sama would return." Tora offered up.

"Oooookay," Ryou said as he and Yukio made eye count, the white haired boy just shrugged, and Ryou said, "Let's get this show on the road!"

"Don't we need the people we're supposed to be escorting first?" _'Ah! Now the boy speaks!'_ Nadare looked at the pale boy, "May I ask your names? I know Hikari-chan's because her mother would brag about her and her siblings all of the time," he was smiling, "But I sadly only know what I learn from my students and Uta doesn't speak, Bunraku hardly speaks about his classmates and according to Akihiko 'they're both just bastards', so I really don't know much." Ryou's eyebrow twitched, then he exclaimed, "I NEVER DID ANYTHING TO AKIHIKO! YUKIO HARDLY EVER DID ANYTHING TO HIM! WHY THE HELL IS HE SUCH AN ASSHOLE?!"

Nadare raised an eyebrow, apparently Akihiko wasn't very liked by this time, _'And with what he said, no wonder.'_, "Your names?"

"I'm Yukio, and he's Daineko Ryou." Yukio said, and Hikari spoke up, "And the cheetah's name is Inazuma. And she's _female_, not _male_."

"Such a beautiful thing couldn't be male," Nadare said, offering his hand from the animal to sniff. She did and licked his hand. "Now where are our clients?"

"Oh, gomenasai," the five people assembled there turned to see a young woman with a little boy hiding behind her skirts, "Watashi wa Kaidan no Kiite desu."

**And end! Ok, so the Tsuki and Ino all suspect something's up, Nadare's on the mission and the ages for Tsunade, Chiyo and the Sandaime are most likely NOT accurate, I was doing the math and guessing!**

**Translations:**

**Watashi wa Kaidan no Kiite desu-My name is Kaidan no Kiite.**

**Kaidan no Kiite-Listen to the Ghost Story**

**-Survive**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12! OMG! I have **_**NEVER**_** made it this far before! To my loyal readers (But not reviewers, DAMNIT! REVIEW!) I dedicate this.**

**Ok, this story was added to a C2 without anyone asking me or me being informed. **_**YOU MUST ASK BEFORE DOING THIS! I DON'T LIKE IT WHEN PEOPLE DO THAT WITHOUT INFORMING ME!**_

**Disclaimer: Chapter 10 is only about two clicks back, go gawk.**

Hikari spoke first, she bowed then said "Watashi wa Sabaku no Hikari desu." The blonde woman smiled and bowed back, "Sabaku-san?"

"Kazekage-sama Oji-san." Hikari knelt down next to the little boy, "Watashi wa Hikari-chan desu. Anatano nameo desu?"

"Ichimaru desu." He placed his hand in her offered one and gave her a large smile. Yukio knelt down next to her, "Watashi wa Yukio desu. Ohayo gozamaisu." Ichimaru looked at Yukio and grinned, "ANIKI!" He ran over and hugged the pale-skinned boy around the neck, causing the boy's amber eyes to widen and he looked at Hikari for help, and then glared, the blind girl was giggling. No, not _giggling_, rolling on the ground_ laughing her head off_. He cast his eyes upwards and glared at again, Ryou was laughing like that too! Hoping for some relief via the adults, Yukio looked at them and glared; Nadare was smiling and his eyes were dancing, and Tora was covering her mouth with her hand.

When he glanced at Kiite, he saw she wasn't laughing; A small, sad smile graced her features as she knelt down, "Ichimaru, this is Yukio, whilst he and Yukimaru look the same, he is a different person."

Ichimaru shook his head, "Aniki." Yukio looked at the small, blond boy, and then he saw a hand reach into his field of vision, said hand was connected to Hikari, "Ichimaru?" She asked gently, and the little boy looked at her, "Do you want to give me a hug? I'd really appreciate it." The small, green-eyed boy looked at Hikari, and, after a minute or two, detatched from Yukio and wrapped his arms around Hikari's neck. She placed one hand under his bottom, the other around his back and stood. "I'm the oldest of five and Yurei's about this age." She faced Ichimaru and asked, in a kind voice, "How old are you?"

The little blond held up three fingers, not realizing Hikari couldn't see them, and Kiite said, "Three."

"Arigatou." Hikari smiled at the woman, and returned her attention to Ichimaru, "What do you like to do?" Yukio grabbed her shoulder, telling her they were moving.

After three hours of walking, Hikari had learned Ichimaru's favorite color was bright neon green, his least favorite color was pink, he liked to draw, play with his toys and play pretend, Kiite was in fact his mother, his favorite food was ramen, his least favorite food was dango, and that Ichimaru could stand on his hands.

He, in turn, had learned Hikari liked to play the flute, train and listen to music, her favorite food was beef, any type, and she absolutely despised fish, the names of her siblings were Bunraku, "He's my twin brother, we're not identical, though, 'cause if we were, he'd be a girl!", Yume, "She's really sweet, learning to be a kunoichi and she can sing really well.", Suurei, "He's a prankster, down right annoying, but I love him all the same." and Yurei, "Now there's a sweetheart! She's kind to everyone and everything and she loves to listen to me and Yume duet.", her favorite thing to feel was silk or glass and her least favorite was anything that was really, really scratchy, her mother was from Konoha, but her father was a Suna native, and she loved going to Konoha in time for winter. The two were chatting happily, at first glance it would look like Hikari was letting her guard down, but any Jounin or higher leveled shinobi would be able to feel the chakra field.

Nadare had felt a strange sensation wash over him, as had Tora, when they left Suna. It was very persistant, so he closed his eyes and forced it back, and then stopped when he heard the "Kari-chan? Are you alright?" Everyone turned to see Hikari had pulled down her hitai-ate, to reveal her unseeing pitch black eyes, and was now pinching the bridge of her nose. The feeling returned, and Hikari's head came up, "I'm fine, Ichi-kun, I just got a headache." She held out the blond boy to Yukio and when he took Ichimaru, she readjusted her hitai-ate, and took the boy back.

Tora looked at Nadare, and the redhead muttered, "Might've been nice had she mentioned that was her." The woman's green eyes sharpened, "Did you push it back?"

"Yes, did you?" Nadare raised an eyebrow and she nodded, "Maybe the two of us, ANBU leveled shinobi, together pushing it back created the headache."

"Possibly," Nadare looked at Hikari again, muttering under his breath, "That annoying secret-keeping lifestyle is hereditary."

Tora, immediately guessing what he was talking about, "Both of her parents are ANBU level, her mother learns the secrets of others and I've yet to meet a person better at avoiding interrogations and her father's..." Tora looked at Nadare, and he nodded, knowing what she was so reluctant to say. Sabaku no Kankuro was the spymaster, the fact that next to no one knew what he looked like, he could pose as a civilian and no one would realize who he was. Under his control were the Devil's Son, who whilst being a teacher's aide at the Academy was still an active spy, the Ghost Twins, named for the fact they were never seen unless they wanted to be seen, much like ghosts, Gypsy Rose, a...Ahem, prostitute, who whilst she wasn't an active shinobi, she had gone through the Academy and was _very_ good at getting information, and Tora herself had been on his roster for a while.

They had made camp, and were now warming themselves at the fire in the middle. There were seven people and, with the exception of Ichimaru's constant chattering, no one was speaking. Then Nadare spoke, "Kiite-san, who is Yukimaru?"

"Was," Kiite's voice as sorrowful, "Yukimaru _was_ my nephew. A shinobi from Tsuchi no Kuni, he was killed on a mission, which was supposed to be diplomatic," she said the last words, her voice filled with anger.

"What happened?" Hikari asked.

"An assassin broke in whilst a meeting between his team and the princess of Yurei no Kuni, he chose to save the princess. The assassin's katana speared him right in the heart." Her voice wobbled, and Yukio asked, "Did you see the body?" Kiite looked up and shook her head. Hikari moved closer to Yukio and whispered, "Then how'd she know where he was stabbed?" Yukio looked at Kiite, before whispering, "I think she was there."

"As the princess?" Ryou moved over, and Yukio shook his head, "No," after a moment's pause, "I don't think so, anyway." The three fell into silence as the adults continued to speak.

**Not as long as I wanted, but you poor, unfortunate folks have waited long enough. Was Kiite there? If she was, what was she doing there? Will I ever get to the action? You'll find out, if ya review. Yes, I'm petty, review already!**

**-Survive**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hiya, all! NaNoWriMo is upon us and now that I've officially freaked myself out, I'm writing a chapter for you all to enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: The day I own NARUTO is the Apocalypse.**

Tora and Nadare were awoken by voices. The two exited their respective tents to find Team 21 leaning over a set of notes. Hikari was feeling the pages, and Tora realized whoever wrote the notes pushed down extremely hard so that Hikari could 'see' the symbols. The blind girl tilted her head to whisper in Yukio's ear, and after a minute, the pale boy nodded, before using writing something on the pieces of paper in front of the trio. Inazuma growled quietly and Ryou, nodding, said something quietly to the other two. Hikari and Yukio nodded, before Yukio wrote something else on the paper.

Nadare walked over to the three genin, "What are you three doing?" Ryou and Yukio exchanged glances, and Hikari's finger 'absently' moved on the paper. Nadare saw what she was 'writing' on the paper, _He's one of the senior shinobi. We _have_ to tell him._ Yukio shoved the papers towards him, "Kiite-san told us another story after you two went off to scout, and we noticed multiple inconsistencies so we were just trying to figure out what she was trying to avoid telling us. We've come up with several ideas, the common theme of all of them would be she was there when it happened, but she's trying to make it sound as if she heard it from someone else, not saw firsthand."

Hikari picked up where Yukio left off, "Our second best idea is that she's trying to keep details from us; Important details that could possibly mean life or death. The most common plothole involved her getting halfway through a word, then changing what she was saying last minute."

"And the last idea is she just doesn't want to talk about certain things, but," Ryou shrugged, "We don't think it's this one. Another idea is it's a mixture of our first two. With holding details she only would've known had she been there."

"One detail about Yukimaru's death seemed like she had been there," Hikari said, "Knowing that the sword had directly pierced the heart without ever seeing the body? We believe she was there. Not as the princess or anything," Hikari shook her hands, "But quite possibly a maid." Nadare ran this information through his head, all the while rubbing his chin; Whilst people tend to believe the older shinobi catch every single _damn_ detail, they don't. It's just not humanly possible, everyone make mistakes, he and Tora being no exception. Slowly nodding, he asked, "May I have the pieces of paper you wrote this on? I believe Tora would like to see this."

"Sure," Ryou shrugged, handing him the sheaf of papers, "But we'd like 'em back, ya know? For when we've got more ideas."

Bunraku leaned against a wall, his eyes closed and one hand pressed to his forehead. _"Hikari, what's wrong?"_

He could almost see his twin in his mind's eye as she replied, _"Something's up with the mission we're on. Our client seems to be withholding details, can you go to the library for me and look up the details on the Yurei no Kuni and Iwa peace treaty?"_

_"That doesn't sound good. I'll have a report for you soon."_ Navy blue eyes opened quick as a flash and soon he was heading towards the library.

Uta heard the sound of running feet and the blonde girl turned to see her teammate heading for the library, so she decided to chase after him, "Bunraku!"  
"What?" He called over his shoulder.

"Where're you going?"

"The library!"

"Can I join you?"

"Sure!" The two teammates, and Uta's tiger, entered the library within a matter of minutes. Uta looked at Bunraku, "What're you looking for?"

"The Tsuchi no Kuni and Yurei no Kuni Peace Treaty," Bunraku replied absent-mindedly, as he headed for the section on Iwa.

"Why're you looking for that?" Uta raised one eyebrow.

"Because Hikari wants me to."

"And you know Hikari wants you to how?"

"We're twins. We have this thing we call Twinpathy. We can have conversations without being anywhere near each other."

"Sounds cool," Uta picked up a book, "What does she want you to look up in particular?"

"She didn't tell me, but I have a feeling it's somehow connected to the genin who died to save the princess of Yurei no Kuni," Bunraku turned the page in the book he was looking at, "The poor kid doesn't even get named in this book."

"That's sad," Uta sat herself on the table, "But he does in this one. They also name all the people there and who they are..." Uta started listing everyone who there, and Bunraku was tuning her out, until she said, "And Kaidan no Kiite, the personal guard of the princess."

"What?" Bunraku yanked the book from her hands, and she made an odd noise, but he ignored her, "Kaidan no Kiite is Team 29's client! So Hikari, Yukio and Ryou have it right, she was there." He leaned back in his seat, and said, using his Twinpathy, _"Sis? Sis? Hikari, what's wrong? Hikari, reply! HIKARI!"_

Hikari slashed with her kunai. When she felt the blood on her face, she knew she had hit someone, hopefully her intended target. She could 'hear' Bunraku calling her, but she just didn't have the time; Whaddya expect when she's fighting to keep the little boy behind her alive? _'I hope this works...'_ She hurriedly performed several handsigns, before breathing in deep and blow through the ring she made with her thumb and index fingers. She knew she had hit at least one person when she picked on the smell of burnt flesh.

Yukio quickly drew a fox on the notebook in front of him, and watched as it came to life, attacking the person looming over Kiite. There was barely two seconds between the fox coming to life and him throwing a kunai at another person. He saw Ryou and Inazuma fighting together and smirked, the duo had perfect teamwork; Inazuma would defend Ryou when Ryou was attacking, and Ryou would have the cheetah's back when Inazuma started attacking.

Tora roared as she stabbed two of the attackers each in their gut, before yelling to Nadare, "Just how many are there?"

"I'm not sure!" Nadare replied, pressing the button that made his walking stick in a a double ended spear. Blood flew as he managed to decapitate one attacker and stab another. "Your genin are doing very well."  
"What do you think I trained 'em for?" Tora replied, summoning her trusted katana Nowaki. In one quick arch she beheaded another enemy.

Kiite pulled a scroll out of her sleeve. Opening it, she bit her thumb. Once it was open, she very quickly pulled her bleeding thumb across one the symbols. Kiite began spinning the ball and chain she had just summoned. She gave a small, tight smile as the attackers were brained by the spike-covered ball.

Hikari heard the sound of something spinning at a very high speed, accompanied by the sounds of whatever it was ramming into things, and she let out one of her chakra waves. She quickly located all of her allies and made circles for them in her chakra field, the size of the circles depending on who they were and what they were doing; Kiite was moving, so she got a rather small one, as did Yukio, who wasn't moving much either, Tora and Nadare shared a medium sized one, as did Hikari and Ichimaru, and Ryou and Inazuma were sharing the biggest circle. Now that that was done, Hikari did the handsigns for one of her mother's genjutsu, named Kazahana.

Tora looked at the enemy, who were no longer attacking. They were standing stock still, and their pupils were dilated, like they weren't entirely there. "We need to keep at least one alive!" She called as she started to work her way through the large crowd.

Bunraku sat with his head in his hands, he knew Hikari was alive, and doing a very big justu, but those details couldn't keep him from worrying. Yes, he knew being a shinobi was dangerous, and he knew that if he informed Hikari of his worry she would shrug it off, but he couldn't get rid of the really bad feeling that had been with him since Hikari had informed him of the mission. _'Something's wrong, I just know it! But I wish I know what 'it' is!_'

Uta looked at her teammate, who looked absolutely and completely stressed, "You alright, Bunraku?"

"My sister's not replying when I call her and if she keeps sending out that much chakra she's gonna collapse, so, no, I'm not alright," he glared at her and she glared right back, "No need to bite my head off! I was just worried!" Bunraku raised an eyebrow and Uta began to talk, as if to protect her statement, "Hey, you're _my_ teammate, and seeing as I'm the only _responsible_ one on the team, _you're_ _my responsiblity_. I can't have you in the hospital because you worried yourself to death."  
"I didn't know that was even possible."

"Hey! My aunt spent two weeks in the hospital because she was so worried about my uncle."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"You sound proud of that fact."

"I'm not..."

"You sure sound it."

"Shut up!" Uta hit him on the head with a book, earning a "Don't break the books!" from one of the many, _many_ librarians and people lurking around the library.

Kiite looked at what was left of the people who had attacked. One was out cold, one was being interrogated by Tora, and the last was covered in wounds that had been inflicted by Inazuma. Kiite pointed at Ryou, and said, "Come here for a minute." Quickly she relayed her plan and Ryou smirked, "You just want me and Inazuma to stand near you looking intimidating? That's easy."

"And it'll probably work because he's already afraid of Inazuma." Ryou shivered when Kiite wasn't looking, the evil smile on her face was terrifying.

Uta looked at Bunraku, who had this look of immense relief on his face. "What's up?" Uta dug in the bag that Shunrai, her tiger, carried. "Apple?" The blonde girl offered him an apple, and with a muttered "Thanks," he grabbed it and took a big bite out of it.

"Hikari's stopped sending out all that chakra, but she's fairly weak. I hope she told her sensei and Nadare-sensei that detail," Bunraku rolled his navy blue eyes, "But she has a tendency to...Shall we say forget? To inform people of information that may make her seem weak."

"That wouldn't make her weak!" Uta said, "That would make her sensible and like a normal human being."

"Normal human beings hate it when their egos take a hit."

Uta opened her mouth, raising a finger, before closing her mouth and dropping the finger, "I have no reply to that."

"Doesn't say much for your IQ level."  
"Shut up!" Uta smacked him upside the head and Bunraku laughed, he couldn't help it. All the stress rushed away and he laughed, and laughed, and laughed. "Are you alright?" She asked after several minutes of watching her teammate laugh himself into tears. Now he wasn't laughing, he had dropped his head back down and was crying. Quietly, almost silently, crying. The only real sign he was crying was the fact that his shoulders were shaking.

"Are you alright?" Uta ventured again, her light blue eyes full of concern. Her teammate was _crying_, and he wasn't replying.

"No..." Bunraku whispered, "No, my sister's out there, putting life and limb on the line, and because _I_ didn't practice enough and because _my_ teamwork isn't good enough, I can't be there to help her."

"No!" Uta exclaimed, "It's not your fault! I've watched you, Bunraku! You train for _hours_, perfecting your skills, and when we do teamwork exercises, you work twice as hard as most people I've seen! It's just the fact that Hikari's team clicked faster."

"And it's also because we've got Akihiko on the team," Bunraku muttered, his voice sour, "He always works alone, even in the teamwork exercises, and because _he_ fails, _we_ fail." Bunraku hit the table, making everything on it, including Uta, jump. She looked at him in fear, _'I didn't see or sense any chakra going into that! If that's his brute strength, I don't wanna be the person to set him off.'_

"Can we take this elsewhere, Bunraku?" Uta asked, "Everyone's staring."

"Fine." He followed her and Shunrai out of the library. Bunraku's fists were clenched and his eyes narrowed, _'If Akihiko pulls us down one more time...'_

Kiite had just finished interrogating the poor, injured fool that had attacked her. Eyes wide and skin pale, the blonde woman dropped into one of the temporary chairs, "We have to get moving. We have to get to Yurei no Kuni as fast as possible. Before I had charted a trail around Shichi no Yama, but now it looks like we have to go over it." She looked at Nadare, who had a look of concentration on his face.

He spoke, "That was exactly what I had feared, the reason I got myself assigned to this mission. Shichi no Yama has felled many better shinobi than me or Tora-san."  
"I know," Kiite sighed, "I'm a mother and I don't like the thought of sending _children_ on a mission like this, but," she grabbed Nadare's hand, "There's something very important I need to tell you."  
"What?" Nadare looked at her.

Kiite looked down at her hands in her lap, then she brought her head back up, "My son is the future king."

**Whoop! I've got this chapter done and yes, I'm still alive!**

**-Survive**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I own only my characters and this story. Anything else is Kishimoto-sama's.**

Nadare's eyes widened and he just stood there, looking at Kiite, before whispering, "We're protecting the future _king_?!"

"I was the princess' bodyguard and when I discovered I was pregnant, she told me my child was the son of the prophecy and her heir. I-I didn't believe it at first, but," Kiite shook her head, "It's the truth. He has the royal mark."

"What?" Nadare closed his eyes, trying to figure out what the 'royal mark' was.

"His green eyes," Kiite said, "No one, and I stress the _no one_, except royalty, have that shade of green eyes."

"It is an odd color," Nadare turned to look at Hikari and Ichimaru, who were playing.

After listening to Bunraku rant for a long time, Uta decided to challenge him to a hand-to-hand duel, thinking it would help him get the anger out of his system. Now she was almost regretting it, he was good! "Who taught you to fight like this?"

"I did," he dodged one of her fists, "From watching my father fight with another older shinobi. I ended up following the other shinobi and copied some of his moves. He looked really odd."  
"How come?" Uta kicked at Bunraku's ankles.

"He had face paint and his hat thingy was covering his one eye," Bunraku threw a punch at her gut, and smirked when it made contact.

"What did your father call him?" Uta side-stepped another punch and bit his arm.

"Ow! I think it was something like Kaki?" Bunraku dodged another punch, before throwing one of his own.

"Could it possibly be Baki?" Uta asked, doing some sort of hand gesture behind her back.

"Possibly-Hey!" Bunraku looked up at Shunrai in fear of getting mauled.

"You need to watch your enemy closey, and especially your enemy's familiars. Shunrai, get offa him. Need a hand?" Uta offered her hand to Bunraku, who accepted it.

"I woulda had a chance had you allowed me to use Kitsune," Bunraku glared at Uta, who smiled, "Yes, but I couldn't possibly allow that." Bunraku stuck out his tongue at her back when she passed him, then glared at Shunrai when the white tiger bumped into him hard enough to knock him over. Uta just laughed, "Shunrai watches out for me, and she doesn't like it when people are rude to me behind my back."

"You're wicked."

"And lovin' it." Uta laughed.

Hikari was once again carrying Ichimaru, who was pulling at Yukio's hair. Yukio's eyebrow twitched, "Is this what it's like to have younger siblings?"

"This is _one_ aspect of it, Yukio, they nag, they want this, they want that, they fight, they whine, they pull your hair, steal your toys," Hikari smiled, "But there's so many good aspects, they cheer you up when you're sad, they draw pictures for you, they carry objects and get things when you're sick, sing or play music to make you feel better..."

Yukio looked at Hikari, and smiled gently. "You've never seen these pictures, have you?"

"No," Hikari shook her head, "But Bunraku's described them for me and I have them all in a box, hoping one day, just maybe, I could see them."

Yukio placed one hand on her arm, "You'll see them one day."

"Hopefully."

Bunraku arrived at his team's training field and his navy blue eyes narrowed, Akihiko was glaring at Fuyu-sensei again.

Uta noticed her teammate's growing anger and Shunrei stepped away from the other genin, giving a small whimper.

Akihiko glared at Bunraku, "What do you want?"

"A mission! A damn mission!" The slightly older boy yelled, "Maybe some actual teamwork! You're dragging us down! I and Uta, we actually work together, but you...All you do is screw us up! Because of you, I can't be in the field, helping Suna or Hikari! Because I'm stuck here, because you won't get your head outta your ass and see that the whole damn world doesn't revolve around you!" Bunraku growled in frustration and stomped off.

The odd-eyed boy glared at Uta, who glared right back, before taking off after the irate genin.

Fuyu just sighed, "I have to agree with Bunraku. You're pulling this team down." She walked off of the training field and Akihiko was left all alone with his anger.

Hikari was walking when she heard a low rumbling sound that was getting gradually louder. She didn't, couldn't, move as she realized the sound was coming from the front of the party, "No!"

Ryou had been walking when Inazuma pulled him back. His eyes widened as he watched Tora, Nadare and Kiite be swamped by the falling rocks.

Yukio's face became as pale as his hair and he closed his red eyes, looking away, _'No one could have survived that.'_

Ryou ran onto the rubble, yelling, "Tora-sensei?! Nadare-sensei?! Answer me! Kiite-san!" He began pulling at the rocks, picking up rocks and throwing them over the side. Hikari placed Ichimaru in Yukio's arms and she began helping Ryou, even though she knew it was in vain.

"Hi-Hikari?" The duo had uncovered a mostly crushed Tora, "I-I want to gi-give you s-something...Re-remove your hi-hitai-ate..." Hikari yanked her hitai-ate down and as she began working on the knot, Tora covered Hikari's eyes with her hand.

Tora's lips moved as she whispered a jutsu and her hand glowed green. Ryou looked between his teammate and his dying sensei, "What are you doing?" Tora didn't answer, just focused all her attention on Hikari and what she was doing. Sweat dripped down her forehead and then she gave a shuddering breath. Her hand dropped from Hikari's face as her breathing stopped.

Hikari felt the hand drop from her face and her eyes widened; It wasn't all black! She could see rocks, and Tora's dead body.

"Hikari?" Ryou asked, "What is it?"

The blonde girl looked at her teammate and said, "You have fangs."

"And claws-Wait, how'd-?" He gawked at her and Yukio said, "Tora-sensei was doing a powerful healing ninjutsu. Maybe it healed your eyes."

"Maybe..." Hikari at her dead sensei, "We should find Nadare-sensei and Kiite-san, then complete the mission."

Her two teammates nodded grimly and Hikari knew that they'd be burying three bodies that night.

Hikari held a crying Ichimaru as they laid his mother to rest along side Tora and Nadare, then she looked at Yukio as he began to speak. "It'll be night soon," he said, looking at the sky, "We'll make camp tonight and continue on our mission tomorrow morning."

Bunraku repeatedly punched the wall in front of him. His knuckles were unprotected and the blood was on the wall. He was so caught up in his anger, he didn't notice the woman watching him until she spoke, "You're destroying your knuckles."

The genin spun around, "Who're you?"

"Nara Temari," she answered calmly, "Who are you?"

"Why should I tell you?" He grabbed the smoke bomb in his pocket.

"Just curious," Temari straightened her skirt, "You look like my brother, Kankuro." Bunraku's navy blue eyes widened and he throw the smoke bomb. As he ran away from the coughing woman, he wondered, _'Dad has a sister?'_

Hikari bowed politely, "Thank you for your hospitality, Choumi-sama, but we should be going. It's a good four or five day trip when the weather's good."

"I'm still sending one of my bodyguards with you," the princess said with a tone that told Hikari there was no room for argument, "Akiro knows the route around the mountain like the back of his hand. He'll be with you until you reach the border, then he has to return."

"Thank you, Choumi-sama," Yukio said, bowing. Then a small blond blur ran at him, "Good-bye, aniki!"

"Good-bye, Ichimaru," Yukio gently patted his blond hair and Hikari leaned down to kiss the small boy on his head, "Ja-ne, Ichi-kun."

"See ya, Ichimaru! Be sure to cause a lot of mischief for Choumi-sama!" Ryou said, ruffling the boy's hair. The green-eyed princess gave him an annoyed look, "Ryou-san."

"Kidding, kidding!"

Bunraku was waiting for his sister at the gate. She had told him, via Twinpathy, that she and her team were returning. They had completed the mission, but there had been complications. Hikari hadn't told him what the complications were and he hadn't asked. He saw three figures and he had to recount, _'There's only three...Well, four, if you count the leopard...'_ As they got closer, he noticed Hikari's hitai-ate was around her neck, not covering her eyes.

"Hikari!" He exclaimed and the two embraced, he placed his mouth right next to her ear and asked, "Where are Nadare-sensei and Tora-sensei? Why isn't your hitai-ate covering your eyes?"

"I never realized you had such dark eyes," she said calmly and his eyes widened, "You, you-"

"I can see," Hikari said, "One good thing came out of that rockslide." Bunraku didn't have to ask what happened, he could see it in her eyes. "Come on, you three, you have to report in."

**And end. Not much, but there'll be a large time jump. I was going to kill Tora **_**later**_** but I needed **_**something**_** for this chapter.**

**Review? Please? Pretty, pretty please?**

**-Survive**


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